JPH0112192Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a sample holding stand for an ultrasonic microscope device, and its purpose is to easily hold a sample horizontally with respect to a focusing lens for an ultrasonic microscope device. The object of the present invention is to provide a sample holder.

The idea of using ultrasound instead of light to observe the microscopic structure of objects has been around for a long time, and recently mechanical scanning ultrasound microscopes have been developed. In principle, this ultrasonic microscope mechanically scans the sample surface with a narrowly focused ultrahigh-frequency beam, collects the scattered ultrasonic waves, converts them into electrical signals, and sends them to the surface of a cathode ray tube. It displays the image dimensionally and obtains a microscopic image. The configuration depends on the method of detecting the ultrasonic waves, that is, detecting the ultrasonic waves that have passed through the sample while being scattered or attenuated, and detecting the ultrasonic waves that have been reflected due to the difference in acoustic properties within the sample. They are divided into transmission type and reflection type, depending on the case in which they detect the transmitted ultrasonic waves.

Microscopic images are obtained using the ultrasonic microscope configured as described above, but at this time it is necessary to hold the sample horizontally with respect to the ultrasonic focusing lens that generates the ultrasonic beam and drive and scan it. For this reason,
After placing the sample on the sample holder, an operation was required to hold the sample horizontally. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing a reflection type ultrasound microscope device.
1 is a high frequency pulse oscillator, 2 is a directional coupler, 3
is an ultrasonic focusing lens, 4 is a sound field medium serving as an ultrasonic medium, 5 is a sample, 6 is a sample holding table, 7 is a gate circuit, 8 is an amplifier, 9 is a detector, 10 is a peak hold circuit, and 11 is a delay 12 is a Y-direction drive device, 13 is a Y-direction drive control circuit, 14 is a Y-direction drive device, 15 is an X-direction drive control circuit, 16 is a cathode ray tube, and 17 is a switch.

To explain the operation of the ultrasonic microscope device configured as described above, first, the high frequency pulse signal generated by the high frequency pulse oscillator 1 is as follows.
The signal is applied via a directional coupler 2 to an ultrasonic focusing lens 3 equipped with an electroacoustic transducer (not shown).

The ultrasonic beam generated by the focusing lens 3 is irradiated onto the sample 5 via the sound field medium 4. The irradiated ultrasonic beam is reflected by the difference in acoustic properties within the sample 5, and the reflected ultrasonic beam is again focused by the focusing lens 3 and converted into an electrical signal. The converted electrical signal is input to the gate circuit 7 by the directional coupler 2.
Unnecessary signals are removed by the gate circuit 7, amplified by the amplifier 8, and then detected by the detector 9. As a result, the intensity of the reflected signal from the sample 5 is extracted as a voltage. Note that since the output from this detector 9 is a pulse-like signal,
It is converted into an analog signal by the peak hold circuit 10, and the analog signal is input to the cathode ray tube 16 as the luminance signal a of the cathode ray tube 16. Further, the sample is driven and scanned in the Y direction for 1 to 60 seconds per scan by a Y direction drive device 12 composed of, for example, a DC motor, and this scanning is controlled by a Y direction drive control circuit 13. be done. Then, the output from the Y-direction drive control circuit 13 is input to the cathode ray tube 16, and is used as the Y-direction control signal c. Note that the sample is driven and scanned in the X direction at a relatively high speed of about 10 to 200 Hz by an X direction drive device 14 constituted by a voice coil or the like, and this scanning is controlled by an X direction drive control circuit 15. controlled. and,
Similarly to the above, it is assumed to be the X-direction control signal b for the cathode ray tube 16.

A microscopic image is obtained by the above-mentioned operation, but in order to obtain a good image, the sample 5 is held horizontally with respect to the focusing lens 3 as described above.
At all locations where the sample 5 is scanned, the focusing lens 3 and the sample 5 must always be kept at a constant distance. Therefore, by changing the switch 17, the reflected signal from the sample 5 can be sent to the cathode ray tube 1.
The brightness signal a of No. 6 is input as a Y-direction scanning signal to the hidden cathode ray tube 16. As a result, the luminance signal a appears on one scanning line of the cathode ray tube 16 because it is driven at 10 to 200 Hz with respect to the tilt of the sample 5 in the X direction. However, the inclination of the sample holding table 6 could be corrected. However, the same correction is made for the tilt of the sample 5 in the Y direction, but if the scan in the Y direction is 1~
It takes a very long time (60 seconds) to make corrections, and this correction operation has the disadvantage that it takes a lot of effort to obtain a good microscopic image.

The present invention provides a solution to the above-mentioned drawbacks, and one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main parts of the scanning drive unit in the ultrasonic microscope device, where 3 is an ultrasonic focusing lens, 5 is a sample, and 6 is a sample holding table.
It consists of an X-direction tilt correction table 61 and a Y-direction tilt correction table 62. Reference numeral 18 denotes a rotating operation table on which the sample holding table 6 is placed.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a Y-direction drive device, which is composed of, for example, a DC motor 12a and a drive stand 12b. 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes an X-direction drive device, which is composed of, for example, a voice coil. 19 is a holding rod for holding the focusing lens 3.

To explain the operation of the scanning drive unit configured as described above, the drive base 12b is rotated by the rotation of the DC motor 12a that constitutes the Y direction drive device
is scanned in the Y direction for 1 to 60 seconds per scan,
X-direction drive device 14 placed on drive stand 12b
are also scanned. At the same time, the holding rod 19 holding the focusing lens 3 disposed in the device 14 is moved by the X direction driving device 14 from 10 to 200 degrees in the X direction.
Scanned at Hz.

By the above driving scan, the focusing lens 3 relatively scans the surface of the sample 5 in the X-Y direction. Then, in order to hold the sample 5 horizontally with respect to the focusing lens 3, the sample holding table 6 placed on a rotary operation table 18, which can be rotated and fixed at any angular position, is operated. At this time, as explained with reference to FIG.
By switching the switch 17, the luminance signal a obtained by processing the reflected signal from the sample 5 to the cathode ray tube 16 is supplied to the input terminal of the Y direction control signal c.
The horizontal correction in the X direction is performed by operating the X direction tilt holding table 61 while visually viewing the image. Thereafter, rotate the rotary operation table 18 by 90 degrees to exchange the X-axis and Y-axis, and while visually viewing the image on the cathode ray tube 16 as before,
Operate 2 to correct it horizontally. Each of these corrections is carried out by the X-direction drive device 14, which moves the focusing lens 3
Since the surface of the sample 5 is scanned at ~200 Hz, an image of the cathode ray tube 16 can be obtained stably and easily, so that correction operations using the tilt correction tables 61 and 62 can be performed very easily.

As described above, according to the present invention, the operation for correcting and holding the sample 5 horizontally with respect to the focusing lens 3 is extremely easy simply by placing the sample holding table 6 on the rotary operation table 18 that can be rotated. This is something that can be done easily.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an ultrasonic microscope device.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part showing a scanning drive section of an ultrasonic microscope apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3... Ultrasonic focusing lens, 5... Sample, 6...
Sample holding table, 61, 62... Inclination correction table, 12...
...Y direction drive device, 14...X direction drive device, 1
8...Rotating operation table.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a reflection-type ultrasound microscope that focuses ultrasound through an ultrasound medium in the direction of a sample surface using an ultrasound focusing lens, and scans the sample surface in X-Y direction with the ultrasound to inspect the sample, A sample holder for an ultrasonic microscope apparatus, characterized in that the sample holder has the function of holding the sample and adjusting the inclination, and is rotatably installed around an axis perpendicular to the X-Y scanning plane. .