Illumination unit for microscopes

An illumination unit for microscopes, comprising:

• a molded interconnected device (MID) structure for freely spatially arranging different electronic and optical components, wherein the MID structure has a closed, ring-shaped main body with a ring-shaped free beam aperture,
• wherein columns are arranged on the ring-shaped main body, wherein a plurality of light emitters are arranged on free ends of the columns and are contacted via conductor tracks provided on a surface of the MID structure, and
• wherein a plug for supplying power and a circuit configured to control the plurality of light emitters are provided on the ring-shaped main body of the MID structure,
• wherein the MID structure is arranged in a housing of the microscope objective,
• wherein a front lens of the microscope objective is arranged along an optical axis,
• wherein the MID structure is guided and held against stops of the housing, and
• wherein the plurality of light emitters protrude out of the housing of the microscope objective next to the front lens and are configured to uniformly light a sample to be observed and/or optically captured by the microscope objective.