US 2020/0026050 A1 · Assembly for Increasing the Resolution of a Laser Scanning Microscope

Abstract

An arrangement for increasing resolution of a laser scanning microscope has a simplified adjustment and lower susceptibility to errors. The pupil beam from the laser scanning microscope is coupled into a shortened common path interferometer, to make wavefronts of a pupil image mirrored at at least one axis and wavefronts of an unchanged pupil image interfere. The area of a pupil from the pupil beam is split into two complementary portions P and Q producing two partial beams separately supplied to at least one beam deflection means by total-internal reflection along the common path interferometer. The light of the interferometer branches from transmitted light of the one interferometer branch and reflected light of the other interferometer branch is made to interfere at a partly transmissive beam splitter layer to cause constructive interference C and destructive interference D of the wavefronts from the two different portions P and Q of the pupil.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A method for improving the resolution or the signal-to-noise ratio of a laser scanning microscope by means of image inversion interferometry, in which a pupil beam in an interferometer branch is mirrored at least once in order to make wavefronts of a pupil image mirrored at at least one axis and of an unmodified pupil image of another interferometer branch interfere, including the steps of:

coupling the pupil beam coming from the laser scanning microscope into a common path interferometer,
splitting the area of a pupil from the pupil beam along a defined axis that is lateral to an optical axis of the collimated beam into two complementary portions P and Q of the pupil under the production of two partial beams that are guided in mirror symmetric fashion along the common path interferometer as two interferometer branches aligned lying opposite one another along the optical axis and that are separately supplied to at least one beam deflection means by way of total-internal reflection,
making the light of the interferometer branches interfere at a partly transmissive beam splitter layer after the at least one beam deflection, wherein light of the one interferometer branch, transmitted by means of the beam splitter lay, and reflected light of the other interferometer branch, and vice versa, form a combination of wavefronts of a first portion P with a second portion Q, complementary to the first portion P, of the pupil, and vice versa, such that constructive interference and destructive interference of the wavefronts are producible from the two different portions P and Q of the pupil.

An arrangement for improving the resolution or the signal-to-noise ratio of a laser scanning microscope with means for image inversion interferometry. containing means for mirroring a pupil beam in an interferometer branch in order to make a pupil image mirrored at at least one lateral axis interfere with an unchanged pupil image of another interferometer branch, wherein

a compact common path interferometer is present, containing at least one double wedge prism made of two right angled, mirror symmetrically arranged wedge prisms, which each are in contact with one another on a large leg face (a) and which have a partly transmissive beam splitter layer therebetween,
light from the pupil beam with a pupil of the laser scanning microscope is directed in orthogonal fashion on a small leg face of the wedge prisms in each case, wherein cither a first portion P or a second portion Q. complementary to the first portion P, of the pupil of the laser scanning microscope is coupled into the wedge prisms,
the light coupled into the wedge prisms, after total-internal reflection at at least one hypotenuse face of the wedge prism, is steered in the direction of the partly transmissive beam splitter layer and partly reflected and transmitted by the latter and made to interfere with light directed onto the beam splitter layer in the same manner, but opposite thereto, such that, at the beam splitter layer, transmitted and reflected light of the one wedge prism and reflected and transmitted light of the other wedge prism are present for interference purposes as a combination of wavefronts of the first portion P of the pupil of the laser scanning microscope with the second, complementary portion Q of the pupil.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Assembly for Increasing the Resolution of a Laser Scanning Microscope

Life of this patent

Assembly for Increasing the Resolution of a Laser Scanning Microscope

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims18