Structured illuminating apparatus, structured illuminating microscopy apparatus, and structured illuminating method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019146201-A1
Application number	US-201916249467-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 16, 2019
Priority date	Jan 18, 2012
Publication date	May 16, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

A structured illuminating apparatus includes a branching unit branching an exit light flux from a light source into at least two branched light fluxes, an illuminating optical system making the two branched light fluxes to be respectively collected at mutually different positions on a pupil plane of an objective lens and making the two branched light fluxes to be interfered with each other to illuminate a specimen with an interference fringe of the two branched light fluxes, and an adjusting unit adjusting a height from an optical axis of the illuminating optical system to two collecting points formed on the pupil plane of the objective lens by the two branched light fluxes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A structured illuminating apparatus, comprising:
a brancher that branches an exit light flux from a light source into at least two branched light fluxes; an illuminating optical system that (i) directs two of the branched light fluxes to a first position on a pupil plane of an objective lens and a second position on the pupil plane, respectively, and (ii) generates an interference fringe on a specimen by the two of the branched light fluxes; an image-forming optical system that forms an image on a light detector by an observational light flux from the specimen modulated by the interference fringe; a calculator that calculates a demodulated image of the specimen based on an image generated by the light detector; and an adjuster that adjusts (i) a distance from the first position to an optical axis on the pupil plane of the objective lens and (ii) a distance from the second position to the optical axis on the pupil plane when the objective lens is switched between two or more objective lenses having different pupil plane sizes.

2 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the adjuster includes an optical element that deflects the two of the branched light fluxes at a deflection angle in accordance with a wavelength of the two of the branched light fluxes.

3 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the adjuster includes:
a first reflecting surface that deflects an optical path of a first light flux of the two of the branched light fluxes;
a second reflecting surface that returns a direction of the optical path of the first light flux deflected by the first reflecting surface to an original direction;
a third reflecting surface that deflects an optical path of a second light flux of the two of the branched light fluxes; and
a fourth reflecting surface that returns a direction of the optical path of the second light flux deflected by the third reflecting surface to an original direction, and
at least one of a positional relationship between the first reflecting surface and the third reflecting surface and a positional relationship between the second reflecting surface and the fourth reflecting surface is variable.

4 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the adjuster is a variable power optical system formed of a plurality of lens groups, and a disposition of the plurality of lens groups is set in accordance with a deflection angle given to the two of the branched light fluxes by the brancher.

5 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: an optical fiber that guides the exit light from the light source, wherein a position of an exit end of the optical fiber is changeable in an optical axis direction.

6 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the adjuster keeps a positional relationship between the first position and the second potion to a relationship symmetric about the optical axis.

7 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the brancher is a diffractive optical element.

8 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein each of the distances is adjusted to a value within a predetermined range.

9 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the predetermined range is a range in which the two of the branched light fluxes can generate the evanescent field in a vicinity of a surface of the specimen.

10 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein each of the distances is finely adjusted within the predetermined range in accordance with an instruction from a user.

11 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the light source can switch a wavelength of the exit light flux; and each of the distances is adjusted to have a predetermined value regardless of the switching of the wavelength.

12 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a switcher that switches the first position and the second position between two or more rotating positions around the optical axis, wherein the adjuster is provided for each of the two or more rotating positions.

13 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first switcher that switches the first position and the second position between two or more rotating positions around the optical axis; and a second switcher that switches a position of the adjuster between the two or more rotating positions.

14 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a phase shifter that shifts a phase of the interference fringe.

15 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the brancher is a diffractive optical element; and the adjuster respectively sets, between an exit light flux of a first wavelength and an exit light flux of a second wavelength, the distance from the first position to the optical axis of the objective lens and the distance from the second position to the optical axis to be approximately the same.

16 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein:
the adjuster is formed of an element deflecting each of the two of the branched light fluxes; and a difference of a deflection angle between the exit light flux of the first wavelength and the exit light flux of the second wavelength set by the adjuster is a value canceling a difference of a diffraction angle between the exit light flux of the first wavelength and the exit light flux of the second wavelength.

17 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein a disposition place of the adjuster is a place where the two of the branched light fluxes are spatially separated.

18 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein:
the adjuster includes a refractive element disposed at a place where the two of the branched light fluxes propagate while separating from each other, and a thickness in an optical axis direction of the refractive element is increased as a distance from the optical axis increases.

19 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein:
the adjuster includes a refractive element disposed at a place where the two of the branched light fluxes propagate while approaching each other, and a thickness in an optical axis direction of the refractive element is reduced as a distance from the optical axis increases.

20 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein:
the adjuster further includes a supplementary refractive element disposed in front of or behind the refractive element and having a dispersion weaker than a dispersion of the refractive element, and a thickness in the optical axis direction of the supplementary refractive element is reduced as a distance from the optical axis increases.

21 . The structured illuminating apparatus according to claim 19 , wherein:
the adjuster further includes a supplementary refractive element disposed in front of or behind the refractive element and having a dispersion weaker than a dispersion of the refractive element, and a thickness in the optical axis direction of the supplementary refractive element is increased as a distance from the optical axis increases.

22 . The structured illuminating apparatu

Assignees

• Nikon Corp

Inventors

• Ouchi Yumiko
• Takasago Kazuhiro
• Nakayama Hiroaki

Classifications

• G01N21/648

  using evanescent coupling or surface plasmon coupling for the excitation of fluorescence · CPC title

• G02B21/0076

  arrangements using fluorescence or luminescence · CPC title

• G02B21/0032 Primary

  Optical details of illumination, e.g. light-sources, pinholes, beam splitters, slits, fibers (G02B21/0036 - G02B21/008; means for illumination of specimens in general G02B21/06) · CPC title

• G02B27/58

  Optics for apodization or superresolution; Optical synthetic aperture systems · CPC title

• G01N21/6458

  Fluorescence microscopy (fluorescence microscopes per se G02B21/0076 and G02B21/16) · CPC title