JPS60198451A - Ultrasonic microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the size of an ultrasonic microscope and to make a scan on it with high precision by supporting an ultrasonic wave transmitting and receiving element on an air bearing without parting and putting the ultrasonic wave transmitting and receiving element in fast reciprocal motion with air. CONSTITUTION:An ultrasonic wave is oscillated from the acoustic lens 28 of the ultrasonic wave transmitting and receiving element 21 to a sample tabel 29. The ultrasonic wave transmitting and receiving element 21 is fitted to a reciprocal moving body 22, which is supported in a bearing guide box 23. Air is admitted into the guide vox 23 through an intake 30 and flowed to upper and lower gaps of the moving body 22 to form the air bearing, which supports the moving body 22 in high-speed reciprocal motion. Then the air discharged from the air bearing is collected and discharged without oscillating the guide box 23. Thus, the guide box 23 is formed in one body and the moving body is supported by the air bearing without parting and scanned while put in reciprocal motion, so the structure is made rigid and reduced in size and the air is discharged at a time, thereby eliminating a noise and oscillation.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of application of the invention] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic microscope.

[Background of the invention]

The configuration of an ultrasonic microscope for observing a sample using ultrasonic waves will be explained with reference to FIG. In FIG. 10, a high frequency electric pulse 2 transmitted from a pulse oscillator 1 is transmitted through an acoustic lens 3.
A piezoelectric material 41 formed on the top surface of the piezoelectric material 41 is applied. The piezoelectric material 4 is excited by the high frequency electric pulse 2 and emits ultrasonic waves. The ultrasonic waves propagate within the acoustic lens 3 and are narrowly focused by the concave portion e provided at the other end surface of the acoustic lens 3. This focused ultrasonic beam is placed on a sample stage 10 which is scanned two-dimensionally (x, y plane) relative to an acoustic lens 3 through a medium 5 (for example, water). Irradiate sample 6. The ultrasonic waves reflected from the sample 6 are received by the acoustic lens 3, and converted into a video signal by a receiver 7 connected to the acoustic lens 3. This video signal is transferred to the sample stage 10.
One screen of the cathode ray tube 8 is displayed in synchronization with the operation of the scanning device 9 that scans the image.

By the way, in the above configuration, in one direction (X-axis direction) in one two-dimensional scan, the sample 6 performs high-speed reciprocating motion, so the high-speed reciprocating motion? In the case of a soft substance such as a biological sample, the inertial force t involved causes the observed part to fluctuate in the medium, or there is an X point where the medium tends to scatter. Furthermore, if the sample 6 is not placed sufficiently onto the sample stage 10, there is a possibility that the sample 6 may shift.

As a solution to these X points, a configuration may be considered in which a focused ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element consisting of an acoustic lens 3 and a piezoelectric material 4 is moved back and forth at high speed. This configuration will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In FIG. 1, the acoustic lens 3 is held by the holder IFM and the reciprocating body 11t
This is installed. The reciprocating body 11 has a compressed air inlet 1 of a bearing guide box 12 arranged on each side of the reciprocating body 11.
The static pressure e of the compressed air supplied from the discharge port 18 through 7
Therefore, it is supported without contact. In such a configuration, by reciprocating the reciprocating body 11 at high speed from the drive shaft 14r of the stressor, the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element is caused to reciprocate at high speed and with little displacement. be.

By the way, in such a configuration, the reciprocating body]5
Since the bearing guide box 12 is arranged in the center of the bearing guide box 12 and divided into left and right parts, the compressed air supplied from the discharge port 18 flows through the opening between the bearing guide box 12 and the reciprocating body 11 ]9
When the compressed air is emitted into the atmosphere and noise is generated, the compressed air also collides with the holter 151, causing the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving element P to vibrate.

Sara eko.

in the air? This discharged compressed air has the disadvantage of causing air pollution in a clean room, etc., and also contaminating the medium 5 and the observation sample 6. Furthermore, since the single bearing guide box 12 is arranged in sections as described above, the fixing plate 16 is required to support and fix the bearing guide box 12 and maintain the spacing therebetween. By attaching the fixed plate 16 in a cantilevered manner to the biaxially movable table 13), an extremely simple structure can be obtained.

However, the bearing guide box located on the left and right sides of the R17el pin]2
Sufficient rigidity is required to prevent displacement. However, the fixed plate 16 requires a cutout window 20 as a movement space for the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element, and since the bearing guide box 12 on one side is applied as a concentrated load in a cantilevered state, this part is In order to improve the strength, it was necessary to increase the size, and as the whole became larger, the number of electric switches increased, and the vibrator had a large capacity and had to be replaced. [Purpose of the present invention] The purpose of the present invention is to develop an ultrasonic microscope 1 in which an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element is reciprocated at high speed with minute displacements, so that high-precision scanning can be performed with a small size, and an ultrasonic microscope capable of observing any sample. This is to provide a sonic microscope.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides an ultrasonic microscope having an air bearing as a guide for high-speed reciprocating movement of an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element, in which the air bearing is not disposed separately, but is formed as an integral part, and even if one exhaust gas is exhausted, it is concentrated. Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. Figure 1
Here, an ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element 2 consisting of an acoustic lens 28, etc.
] is the center V on the end side of the reciprocating body 22.
The reciprocating body 22 is housed in a bearing guide box 23 so as to cover its intermediate portion, and is supported in a non-contact manner by aerostatic pressure. By causing the reciprocating body 22 supported in a non-contact manner to reciprocate at high speed using the drive shaft 24 of the vibrator, the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element 21 can be scanned with high accuracy with extremely little movement displacement. . Furthermore, the position on the opposite side of the reciprocating body 22 from the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element 21 is as follows.
A balance weight 25 is provided to ensure north-south movement accuracy.

In such a configuration, when the sample 29 is attached,
It is necessary to be able to adjust the distance between the y-axis moving table 27 and the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element 21 by tNIP.
This can be done by a simple operation of fixing r and moving the biaxially movable table 26 up and down.

According to this configuration, since the bearing guide box 23 is integrally constructed, the rigidity of the bearing guide box 23 itself, which serves as a support member for the reciprocating body 2, is 2 to 3 times lower than that of the conventional one.
It can be made three times more expensive. As a result, the cross-sectional area of the bearing guide box 23 can be reduced, making it possible to downsize and simplify the configuration.The bearing guide box 23 can be attached to the Z-axis moving table using bolts or the like. 26? This can be done easily, and the bearing guide box 23 itself is less likely to be deformed, making it possible to provide an ultrasonic microscope having a compact and highly accurate air bearing.

The detailed structure of the bearing guide box 23 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.
It is arranged as shown in the figure. That is, the compressed air supplied from the discharge port 31.32 through the compressed air inlet 30 passes through the bearing guide surfaces 33 and 34 and enters the groove space 35.3.
6 and the pressure is reduced to near atmospheric pressure. Since an air film having an appropriate load capacity and rigidity can be obtained from the aerostatic pressure t generated by this V, the reciprocating body 22 can be supported without contact, and the displacement per stroke during scanning can be reduced. Further, the air that has reached the groove space 361 is discharged to both sides of the bearing guide box 23, as shown in FIG. 6e. The air is arranged on both sides of the bearing guide box 23 and can be discharged all at once. Therefore, since the air is not directly discharged from the bearing guide box 23, generation of noise and vibration, pollution of the atmosphere in a clean room, etc., and contamination of the medium or the sample 29 can be prevented. In addition,
If air pollution is not a problem, such as in a clean room, the closing wall 40 may be installed only on the side where the ultrasonic cord 21 is provided.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, an ultrasonic microscope with a scanning ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element can perform crystal-accurate scanning, can be made compact, and can observe any sample.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasound microscope, Figure 2 is a plan view showing the support structure of the ultrasound transmitting and receiving element in a conventional ultrasound microscope, and Figure 3 is the ultrasound transmitting and receiving element shown in Figure 2. 4 is a perspective view showing the scanning section of the ultrasonic microscope according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction of the scanning section of FIG. 4; and FIG. 6 is the scanning section of FIG. 4. FIG.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The ultrasonic wave generated by the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element is applied to the sample, the reflected ultrasonic wave is received by the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element, and the received ultrasonic signal indicates the relative force/scanning between the sample and the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element. In an ultrasonic microscope that forms an image in synchronization with the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving element, the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving element is supported by a scanning means t, and an air bearing having a guiding surface corresponding to the entire scanning circumference formed continuously in the moving direction; An ultrasonic microscope characterized by comprising a drive means for reciprocating a reciprocating member.