KR20060091860A - Real-time confocal microscopy using dispersion optics - Google Patents

Abstract

Real-time confocal using a distributed optical system to solve the vibration problems, signal processing problems, measuring unit cost improvement problems, etc. according to the scanning device to obtain a two-dimensional cross-sectional image of the object in real time without including the scanning device According to an embodiment, a microscope and a broadband light source for supplying light; An illumination optical system for collecting light from the light source and illuminating the light on the slit opening; A slit opening for passing only a slit region of light illuminated from the illumination optical system; A tube lens for converting light passing through the slit opening into parallel light; A first scattering optical system for making parallel light emitted from the tube lens to travel at different angles according to the wavelength; An objective lens for illuminating the light from the first scattering optical system on a specimen; A first imaging lens for reflecting light from the specimen and passing through the slit opening into parallel light; A second scattering optical system for making the parallel light passing through the first imaging lens to travel at different angles according to the wavelength; A second imaging lens for imaging light emitted from the second scattering optical system; It consists of a two-dimensional photoelectric detector for converting light formed from the second imaging lens into an electrical signal.

Optics, light source, wavelength filter, illumination optical system, light splitter, objective lens, tube lens, slit opening, imaging lens, 2D photodetector, diffraction grating, prism, illumination lens, cylindrical lens

Description

Real-time confocal microscopy using dispersion optics

The following drawings, which are attached in this specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention, and together with the detailed description of the present invention, serve to further understand the technical spirit of the present invention. It should not be construed as limited to.

1 is a schematic diagram of a confocal scanning microscope using a conventional rotating disk.

2 is a schematic representation of a rotating disk in which multiple pinhole openings are formed.

3 is a schematic view of a rotating disk with slit pinhole openings formed therein.

4 is a view showing the effect of the reflected light collected from the tube lens according to the optical axis movement of the specimen in a confocal scanning microscope using multiple apertures.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the degree of change in resolution in the optical axis direction with increasing aperture size for a confocal scanning microscope using multiple apertures and a confocal scanning microscope using a single aperture.

6 is a schematic diagram of a conventional confocal scanning microscope using a beam deflector.

7 is a schematic representation of a conventional confocal scanning microscope wavelength coded in one axis.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a schematic view showing the form in which the specimen is illuminated.

Figures 10a, 10b, 10c is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of the specimen is illuminated and observed in the two-dimensional photoelectric detector when actually observing the specimen.

11 is a schematic diagram showing light scattering in a prism.

12 is a schematic showing that light is scattered in a diffraction grating.

FIG. 13 is a schematic showing light scattering in a VPH grating. FIG.

Fig. 14 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 16 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

17 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

110: prism

120; Reflective grating

140: flat plate

141; Polarized light splitter

142 wave plate

150: cylindrical lens

160: illumination lens

170: second slit opening

801: Broadband Light Source

801: Wavelength Filter

803: Illumination Optical System

804: light splitter

805: slit opening

806: Tube Lens

807: First Distributed Optical System

808: Objective Lens

809 Psalms

810: First imaging lens

811: second dispersion optical system

812: Second imaging lens

813: 2D photodetector

The present invention configures a confocal microscope without a scanning device, and uses a distributed optical system to obtain an image in real time while solving a vibration problem, a signal processing problem, a light loss problem, and a production cost problem caused by the presence of the scanning device. It relates to a confocal microscope.

The real-time confocal microscope using the dispersion optical system according to the present invention can be applied to inspections requiring fast speeds such as defect inspection of semiconductor wafers, defect inspection of LCDs, and the like.

Conventionally, confocal scanning microscopy is widely used for observing objects in the biomedical field. Excellent depth discrimination in the optical axis direction can observe the shape of the specimen, and has the advantage of obtaining a three-dimensional shape of the object. In addition, confocal scanning microscopes have a higher resolution in the horizontal direction than conventional optical microscopes, and thus are recently applied to measurement and inspection of semiconductor wafers, image output devices, and fine patterns.

1 is a schematic diagram of a confocal scanning microscope using a conventional Nipkow disk. As shown in the related art, a conventional light source 1, a collimating lens 2, a light splitter 3, a Nipco disk 4, a motor 5, a tube lens 6, an objective lens 7, a specimen ( 8), a first lens 9, a second lens 10, and a two-dimensional photoelectric detector 11.

Light emitted from the light source 1 becomes parallel light while passing through the collimating lens 2. The parallel light is reflected by the light splitter 3 to illuminate the upper surface of the Nipco disk 4.

At this time, one form of the tip nose disk 4 is shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows the shape of a disk with a large number of small openings 4a in the form of needle holes distributed on the disk, in which only light passing through the plurality of openings in the illuminated area when the parallel beam illuminates the disk (see Fig. 2). You can proceed to 6). Light passing through each of the openings in the illumination area is propagated at various angles by diffraction, which has the same effect as placing a point light source at the position of the opening.

The tube lens 6 and the objective lens 7 form an opening on the specimen 8, thereby obtaining the effect that only a plurality of point regions of the observation region of the specimen are illuminated. In order to illuminate all the viewing areas of the specimen, the position of the openings must be changed. For this purpose, the Nipco disk 4 is mounted on the motor 5 so that the openings 4a on the disk move through the rotational axis movement thereof.

Light reflected from the illuminated portion on the specimen 8 passes through the objective lens 7 and the tube lens 6 and forms an image on the nibco disk 4. In this case, when the specimen 8 is on the focal plane of the objective lens 7, the reflected light passes through the opening on the Nipco disk 4, while the specimen 8 deviates from the focal plane of the objective lens 7 in the optical axis direction. When moved to, the reflected light does not pass through the opening. Through this, confocal effect can be obtained and high resolution can be obtained in the optical axis direction.

The reflected light passing through the opening is formed on the two-dimensional photodetector 11 by the first lens 9 and the second lens 10. The position of the point formed on the photodetector 11 also changes according to the driving rotation of the motor 5 so that an optical signal is transmitted to the entire area of the two-dimensional photodetector, thereby obtaining two-dimensional information of the specimen.

3 shows another form of a Nipco disk. The disk shown in FIG. 3 has a curved opening 4b on its surface. In the case of using such an opening, the area through which the illumination light passes has a shape of a line, and thus the area illuminated by the objective lens on the specimen also has a shape of a line. As the motor 5 rotates, the line illuminating the specimen is moved, and the line formed on the two-dimensional photodetector 11 is also moved to obtain the two-dimensional shape of the specimen.

A confocal scanning microscope using a rotating disk has an advantage of obtaining a higher image acquisition speed than a beam deflecting confocal scanning microscope which acquires images in a serial manner using a beam deflector. The limit of the measurement speed is determined by the image acquisition speed of the 2D photodetector, and it is common to acquire about 30 images per second, and recently, the image acquisition speed of the 2D photodetector has been improved in 1 second. Confocal scanning microscopes capable of acquiring 1000 images have also been realized.

However, there is a disadvantage in that the resolution in the optical axis direction is lowered because it illuminates a plurality of points or a wide area instead of one point on the specimen for parallel signal processing.

4 illustrates this effect. When the specimen 8 is located in the focal plane of the objective lens 7, since the light reflected from the specimen is condensed accurately on the opening by the tube lens 6, a large amount of light is emitted as shown in FIG. It will pass through the opening. In this case, the reflected reflected light does not have any effect on the neighboring openings.

However, when the specimen is out of the focal plane of the objective lens 7, as shown in FIG. 4B, the light collected by the tube lens 6 may not be correctly collected in the opening through which the illumination light is emitted. The light will be collected at the moved position. In this case, the reflected light passes through not only the opening from which the illumination light was emitted but also the adjacent opening, thereby reducing the effect of improving the resolution in the optical axis direction according to the confocal principle.

FIG. 5 shows the change in the optical axis direction resolution with increasing aperture size for a confocal scanning microscope using a single aperture and a confocal scanning microscope using a multiple aperture. It is necessary to increase the size of the aperture in order to obtain a light amount within the measurable range. As shown in FIG. 5, in the case of a confocal scanning microscope using multiple apertures, the resolution in the optical axis direction increases as the size of the aperture increases. It can be seen that the value of decreases and the performance decreases.

As described above, in a confocal scanning microscope using a rotating disk, the reflection of light emitted from a neighboring opening from the specimen acts as a kind of noise, which degrades performance in the optical axis direction.

Another problem of the existing inventions is a vibration problem and a sampling problem. In order to rotate the Nipkow disk, a motor for rotating motion is required, which may cause problems due to vibration in the entire optical system. In addition, when a two-dimensional photodetector having a high image acquisition speed is used, the rotation speed of the Nipco disk may not be sufficient, which may cause distortion of the image.

6 is a schematic diagram of a conventional confocal scanning microscope. As shown, the conventional confocal scanning microscope 10 includes a light source 12, a beam space filter / expansion device 14, a light splitter 16, a scanning device 18, an objective lens 20, and a condenser lens. (22), a needle hole opening (24) and a photoelectric detector (26).

Light from the light source 12 passes through the beam space filter / expansion device 14 to become parallel light, and the parallel light is reflected by the light splitter 16 and enters the scanning device 18. The parallel light whose direction of travel is changed by the scanning device is focused on the specimen 8 by the objective lens 20. Light reflected or fluoresced from the specimen passes through the objective lens 20 and the scanning device 18 and passes through the light splitter 16 to be focused on the needle hole opening 24 by the condenser lens 22. do. At this time, the light reflected or fluoresced in the focal plane of the objective lens 20 among the light reflected or fluoresced by the specimen 8 is focused on the needle hole opening 24 and passes through the needle hole opening. It is measured by the photoelectric detector 26. Light reflected or fluoresced in areas outside the hyperplane is focused in front of or behind the needle hole openings, so that a large portion of the light does not pass through the needle hole openings, thus reducing the intensity of the light measured by the photoelectric detector.

Using this principle, only information from the hyperplane of the objective lens 20 can be obtained, so that the tissue inside the object can be observed. In addition, even if it is on the hyperplane, the needle hole opening filters out light emitted from the point away from the focus, thereby improving the resolution in the horizontal direction.

However, the confocal scanning microscope 10 using the needle hole opening 24 has a problem that it takes a long time to obtain one two-dimensional image due to the limitation of the scanning speed of the scanning device 18. In order to solve this problem, a high measurement speed may be obtained by using an acoustic-optic deflector in the scanning device, but this requires a large computational load in signal processing and requires a computer. Have

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of spectrally-encoded confocal microscopy, color-coded one direction of a two-dimensional plane of a specimen using a diffraction grating. FIG. As shown in the drawing, the prior art is composed of an optical fiber 71, a lens 72, a diffraction grating 73, and a specimen 74.

Light emitted from the end of the optical fiber 71 is collected by the lens 72. At this time, the light emitted from the optical fiber 71 uses a broad-band light source having various wavelengths. Since the angle of propagation of the primary beam varies according to the wavelength of light, the diffraction grating 73 forms light of wavelengths 1, 2, and 3 at different points on the specimen as shown. At this time, the light reflected from the specimen passes through the diffraction grating 73 and the lens 72 to be concentrated at the end of the optical fiber 71 and the collected light is transmitted to the other end of the optical fiber. In this way, it is possible to match the coordinates on the specimen with light having a different wavelength in one direction in the specimen plane, which has the advantage of not having to scan in the matched direction.

However, in order to acquire a two-dimensional image of the specimen, the ends of the optical fiber are transferred in a direction perpendicular to the matched direction (the direction perpendicular to the ground in FIG. 7) or beam deflection between the optical fiber 71 and the diffraction grating 73. A device must be installed to deflect the light in an unmatched direction.

When the conveying unit is mounted as described above, vibration of the system due to the movement of the conveying unit is generated, and the vibration acts as a factor that lowers the reliability of the measurement. In addition, since a single line of information is acquired in a matched direction and the beam is moved in a direction perpendicular to the direction, the signal is serially received and processed, which takes time to process the signal, thereby slowing down the image acquisition speed. In addition, the beam deflector or the optical fiber conveying apparatus used is expensive and may be a factor to increase the unit cost of the measuring device.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and to solve the vibration problem, the signal processing problem, the measuring unit cost improvement problem, etc. according to the scanning device, 2 of the object without including the scanning device It is an object of the present invention to provide a real-time confocal microscope using a scattering optical system to obtain a dimensional cross-sectional image in real time.

Specific means of the present invention for achieving the above object,

In a real-time confocal microscope using a scattering optical system,

A broadband light source for supplying light;

An illumination optical system for collecting light from the light source and illuminating the light on the slit opening;

A slit opening for passing only a slit region of light illuminated from the illumination optical system;

A tube lens for converting light passing through the slit opening into parallel light;

A first scattering optical system for making parallel light emitted from the tube lens to travel at different angles according to the wavelength;

An objective lens for illuminating the light from the first scattering optical system on a specimen;

A first imaging lens for reflecting light from the specimen and passing through the slit opening into parallel light;

A second scattering optical system for making the parallel light passing through the first imaging lens to travel at different angles according to the wavelength;

A second imaging lens for imaging light emitted from the second scattering optical system;

It consists of a two-dimensional photoelectric detector for converting light formed from the second imaging lens into an electrical signal.

In addition, according to the present invention, the first and second scattering optical system may be composed of a prism.

In addition, according to the present invention, the first and second scattering optical system may be composed of a diffraction grating.

In addition, according to the present invention,

A polarizing plate disposed between the broadband light source and the illumination optical system;

A wave plate disposed between the first scattering optical system and the objective lens;

A polarizing plate disposed between the first imaging lens and the second scattering optical system;

And a polarized light splitter for dividing the light illuminated from the illumination optical system into the slit opening and the imaging lens, respectively.

In addition, according to the present invention, the illumination optical system may be formed of a cylindrical lens.

In addition, according to the present invention,

The illumination optical system is made of a cylindrical lens for condensing light,

An illumination lens for making the slit pattern collected by the cylindrical lens into parallel light;

An imaging lens for condensing parallel light from the illumination lens onto the slit opening is further included.

In addition, according to the present invention,

A second slit opening may be further disposed between the cylindrical lens and the illumination lens to filter light collected by the cylindrical lens.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8 is a schematic diagram of a confocal microscope according to an embodiment of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 8, the present invention provides a broadband light source 801, a wavelength filter 802, an illumination optical system 803, a light splitter 804, a slit opening 805, a tube lens 806, and a first dispersion. The optical system 807 (dispersion optics), the objective lens 808, the first imaging lens 810, the second imaging lens 812, the second scattering optical system 811, the two-dimensional photoelectric detector 813 is included. .

The light emitted from the broadband light source 801 passes through the wavelength filter 802 to narrow the wavelength range. If the wavelength range is too large, chromatic aberration occurs for light of various wavelengths. When the wavelength range of the broadband light source 801 is small, a wavelength filter may not be used to improve light efficiency.

Light passing through the wavelength filter 802 is collected on the slit opening 805 by the illumination optical system 803. Light passing through the slit opening 805 proceeds by diffraction as if each point on the slit is a point light source. The tube lens 806 spaced apart by the focal length from the slit opening 805 turns the light passing through the slit into parallel light traveling at various angles in a direction perpendicular to the ground of FIG. 8.

This bundle of parallel lights is incident on the first scattering optical system 807. The first scattering optical system 807 is an optical system that makes the light traveling at different angles according to the wavelength of light. Since light incident on the first scattering optical system 807 has various wavelengths, light having different wavelengths splits and proceeds at different angles. The split light is condensed on the specimen by the objective lens 808, in which the pattern is illuminated as shown in FIG. Light of a specific wavelength is illuminated on the specimen in a slit shape, and light of different wavelengths illuminates different areas in a slit shape in a direction perpendicular to the length direction of the slit. As described above, the present invention is characterized by illuminating the two-dimensional area of the specimen at a time.

The light reflected from the specimen passes through the objective lens 808 and the first scattering optical system 807 and merges into one and is focused on the slit opening 805 by the tube lens 806. At this time, the reflected light passes through the slit opening 805 only when the specimen is placed in the focal plane of the objective lens 808, and when the specimen is placed above or below the focal plane, the reflected light is reflected in the slit opening 805. Many parts are eliminated. The light passing through the slit again becomes a bundle of parallel light by the first imaging lens 810, which is incident on the second scattering optical system 811 and splits in a direction horizontal to the ground according to the wavelength. The split light is focused on the two-dimensional photodetector 813 by the second imaging lens 812. If a mirror is used as the specimen and the specimen is located in the focal plane of the objective lens, the image observed on the 2D photoelectric detector 813 has a shape similar to that of the illumination pattern of FIG. 9.

10A to 10C show an illumination region that can be seen when actually observing the specimen and an image observed on the two-dimensional photodetector. In the specimen 809 having a height step as shown in FIG. 10A, when the upper surface is located in the focal plane of the objective lens 803, the signal reflected from the lower surface is removed by the slit opening, and thus the amount of light is very weak. At this time, the pattern of light illuminated on the specimen is as shown in FIG. Accordingly, the image as shown in FIG. 10C may be observed by the 2D photodetector 813.

In this way, the image of the specimen can be obtained without any scanning device, so the configuration is simple and the cost and time for signal processing can be reduced. In addition, it can be used in the same way as a conventional optical microscope, but has the advantage of obtaining a higher resolution image than a conventional optical microscope.

The split optical system 807 that can propagate light at different angles according to the wavelength can be implemented in various ways.

11 shows a case where the scattering optical system 807 is made of the prism 110. As shown in FIG. 11, when one light is incident, the light is split at various angles and emitted. This is because the refractive index of the material constituting the prism 110 has a different value depending on the wavelength, thereby causing a difference in refractive angle.

12 shows an example in which a scattering optical system is configured using a diffraction grating 120. As shown in FIG. 12, when one light is incident, the light is split at various angles according to the wavelength and is emitted. When diffraction occurs by the grating, the propagation angle of the primary light is proportional to the size of the wavelength, so light having different wavelengths proceeds in different directions.

FIG. 13 shows an example in which a dispersion optical system is configured using a volume phase holographic (VPH) diffraction grating 130. VPH diffraction grating is a diffraction grating using volume hologram to maximize the efficiency of primary light. The prism does not have a large degree of angle divergence depending on the wavelength, and thus a light source having a very wide wavelength is required to illuminate a large area of the specimen. However, if the wavelength range is too wide, chromatic aberration occurs. Conventional diffraction gratings can reduce the gap between the diffraction gratings to increase the degree of primary light splitting, but have a disadvantage in that the efficiency of the primary light is poor. VPH grating has the advantage of increasing the primary light efficiency while increasing the angle change according to the wavelength change.

14 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 14, the same or equivalent parts as those in Fig. 8 have the same reference numerals. In FIG. 14, a polarizing plate 140 was used between the wavelength filter 802 and the illumination optical system 803, and a polarization light splitter 804 was used instead of the light splitter. The first dispersion optical system 807 and the objective lens 808 were used. The wavelength plate 142 is used, and the polarizing plate 143 is used between the first imaging lens 810 and the second scattering optical system 811.

This embodiment polarizes the light incident on the slit opening 805 to prevent the reflected light from passing through the slit opening and being reflected by the two-dimensional photoelectric detector 813. Since the light reflected from the slit opening 805 has the same polarization state as the incident light, it does not pass through the polarized light splitter 141 and is reflected. Therefore, light reflected from the slit opening 805 surface is not detected by the two-dimensional photodetector 813.

Therefore, the light that passes through the slit opening 805 and is reflected and reflected on the specimen 809 through the tube lens 806, the scattering optical system 807, and the objective lens 808 passes through the wave plate twice, and thus the slit opening again. After passing through, the light is passed through the polarized light splitter 141 without being reflected and detected by the two-dimensional photoelectric detector 813. In this embodiment, the influence of the reflection surface on the slit opening plane and the light reflection reflected by various optical components can be reduced, so that the signal-to-noise ratio can be improved.

FIG. 15 shows another embodiment of the present invention, characterized in that the illumination optical system consists of a cylindrical lens 150. When the light from the light source is collected using the cylindrical lens 150, the light collecting effect is generated in only one direction so that the light at the collected portion has the shape of a slit. When the light is illuminated in the slit opening 805, the amount of light reflected without passing through the slit opening can be reduced, thereby increasing the light efficiency and preventing the degradation of the image due to the reflected light.

FIG. 16 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the illumination optical system includes a cylindrical lens 150, an illumination lens 160, and a first imaging lens 810.

Therefore, the light collected in the form of a slit by the cylindrical lens 150 is imaged again using the illumination lens 160 and the first imaging lens 810 on the slit opening 805. At this time, the light passing through the illumination lens 160 is a bundle of parallel light, each traveling direction is different, which is formed on the slit opening 805 by the first imaging lens 810. In the case of using such an optical system, the light passing through the optical splitter 804 becomes parallel light and has an advantage of eliminating aberrations that may occur when the light is converged or diverged.

FIG. 17 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the illumination optical system includes a cylindrical lens 803, a second slit opening 170, an illumination lens 160, and a first imaging lens 810.

Therefore, only the light passing through the second slit opening 170 among the light collected in the form of slit by the cylindrical lens 800 is on the slit opening 805 through the illumination lens 160 and the first imaging lens 810. Will be illuminated. Since only the light passing through the second slit opening 170 is illuminated on the slit opening, there is no light reflected on the slit opening, thereby preventing the deterioration of the image due to the light.

As described above, although the present invention has been described by way of limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the technical idea of the present invention and the following by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Of course, various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of equivalents of the claims to be described.

As described above, according to the real-time confocal microscope using the dispersion optical system of the present invention, by constructing a confocal microscope without a scanning device at all, (1) eliminating vibration problems due to the presence of a scanning device, and (2) expensive beam deflection. By not using the device or the signal processing device, the manufacturing cost of the measuring device can be reduced, and (3) the image can be obtained at high speed without any time delay caused by the signal processing. In addition, (4) there is no scanning device, so it is easy to miniaturize.

Therefore, the present invention can be applied to the inspection process in the semiconductor production line, the inspection process in the LCD production line that requires high resolution measurement at high speed, and when applied, (1) shorten the production cost and production time and (2) Inspection can improve the quality of high value-added products. (4) Miniaturization can be widely applied to the observation of parts that are difficult to access by currency.

Claims (7)

In a real-time confocal microscope using a scattering optical system, A broadband light source 801 for supplying light; An illumination optical system 803 for collecting light emitted from the light source 801 and illuminating it on the slit opening; A slit opening (805) for passing only a slit region of light illuminated from the illumination optical system (803); A tube lens 806 for converting light passing through the slit opening 805 into parallel light; A first distributed optical system 807 which makes the parallel light emitted from the tube lens 806 proceed at different angles according to the wavelength; An objective lens 808 for illuminating the light from the first scattering optical system 807 on the specimen; A first imaging lens 810 reflecting light from the specimen and passing through the slit opening 805 into parallel light; A second scattering optical system 811 for making the parallel light passing through the first imaging lens 810 proceed at different angles according to the wavelength; A second imaging lens 812 for imaging light emitted from the second scattering optical system 811; Real-time confocal microscope using a distributed optical system, characterized in that consisting of a two-dimensional photoelectric detector (813) for converting the light formed from the second imaging lens (812) into an electrical signal. The method of claim 1, The first and second distributed optical system (807,811) is a real-time confocal microscope using a distributed optical system, characterized in that consisting of a prism (110). The method of claim 1, The first and second distributed optical system (807,811) is a real-time confocal microscope using a scattering optical system, characterized in that consisting of a diffraction grating (120). The method of claim 1, A polarizing plate 140 disposed between the broadband light source 801 and the illumination optical system 803; A wave plate 841 disposed between the first dispersion optical system 807 and the objective lens 803; A polarizing plate (842) disposed between the first imaging lens (810) and the second scattering optical system (811); And a polarized light splitter (804) for dividing the light illuminated from the illumination optical system (803) into the slit opening (805) and the imaging lens (810), respectively. The method of claim 1, The illumination optical system 803 is a real-time confocal microscope using a distributed optical system, characterized in that consisting of a cylindrical lens 150. The method of claim 1, The illumination optical system 803 is made of a cylindrical lens 150 for condensing light, An illumination lens 160 for making the slit pattern collected by the cylindrical lens 150 into parallel light; Real time confocal microscope using a scattering optical system, characterized in that it further comprises an imaging lens 810 for condensing parallel light from the illumination lens 160 on the slit opening (805). The method of claim 6, And a second slit opening 170 disposed between the cylindrical lens 803 and the illumination lens 160 to filter the light collected by the cylindrical lens 803. Real time confocal microscope.

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