Scanning microscope employing improved scanning mechanism
First Claim
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1. An optical instrument comprising:
- A) at least one of a light source and a light detector,B) means defining a light path between a target spot in an object region and the source or detector, andC) a scanner assembly disposed in the light path and including;
i) at least one deflector assembly associated with a deflection axis and resonant at both a first, fundamental resonant frequency and an additional, harmonic resonant frequency, which is a harmonic of the fundamental resonant frequency, andii) a drive mechanism for varying the position of the target spot in directions generally parallel to the associated deflection axis by simultaneously both driving the deflector assembly nonresonantly and driving it resonantly at the fundamental and harmonic resonant frequencies, the drive mechanism including a control system for maintaining a predetermined phase relationship between the target spot'"'"'s motion components at the two resonant frequencies.
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Abstract
A confocal microscope (10) includes a scanner assembly (38) in which the x-axis deflector assembly includes two resonant scanners (50 and 52) that oscillate about parallel axes at different frequencies, one of which is a harmonic of the other. As a consequence, the x-axis scan can be nearly linear even though it is provided resonantly and thus benefits from the high-speed capabilities of resonant systems. A galvanometer (64) pivots the housing of one of the resonant scanners (50) about its axis so as to provide x-axis panning.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An optical instrument comprising:
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A) at least one of a light source and a light detector, B) means defining a light path between a target spot in an object region and the source or detector, and C) a scanner assembly disposed in the light path and including; i) at least one deflector assembly associated with a deflection axis and resonant at both a first, fundamental resonant frequency and an additional, harmonic resonant frequency, which is a harmonic of the fundamental resonant frequency, and ii) a drive mechanism for varying the position of the target spot in directions generally parallel to the associated deflection axis by simultaneously both driving the deflector assembly nonresonantly and driving it resonantly at the fundamental and harmonic resonant frequencies, the drive mechanism including a control system for maintaining a predetermined phase relationship between the target spot'"'"'s motion components at the two resonant frequencies. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A confocal microscope comprising:
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A) a light source, B) a light detector, C) a microscope objective lens for viewing an object region, D) means defining source and detector light paths between a target spot in the object region and the source and detector, respectively, such that the source and detector light paths have a common path segment, and E) a scanner assembly disposed in the common path segment and including; i) at least one deflector assembly associated with a deflection axis and resonant at both a first, fundamental resonant frequency and an additional, harmonic resonant frequency, which is a harmonic of the fundamental resonant frequency, and ii) a drive mechanism for driving the deflector assembly to vary the position of the target spot in directions generally parallel to the associated axis at the fundamental and harmonic resonant frequencies simultaneously, the drive mechanism including a control system for maintaining a predetermined phase relationship between the target spot'"'"'s motion components at the two resonant frequencies. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification