JP2601776Y2 - microscope - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a microscope capable of switching between an epi-illumination dark-field speculum and another speculum. The present invention relates to a microscope capable of preventing deterioration of an observed image by being separated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a microscope capable of switching between a differential interference observation method capable of confirming extremely minute irregularities on the surface of a test object and an incident dark-field observation method capable of confirming minute irregularities on the surface of an object has been developed. Are known.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an incident-light differential interference optical system of this type of microscope. In this epi-illumination differential interference method, the illumination light emitted from the light source 1 is linearly polarized by the polarizer 6 after passing through the condenser lens 2, the aperture stop AS3, the field stop FS4, and the FS lens group 5, and the linearly polarized light beam Is reflected by the half mirror 7 disposed on the observation optical path, passes through the center of the upper dark field tube 8, and enters the differential interference prism 9. Note that the differential interference prism 9 is held by an incident-light differential interference slider 10.

The differential interference prism 9 separates the light beam linearly polarized by the polarizer 6 into two light beams having different vibration directions, and separates the two light beams into the lower dark field tube 1.
The sample 13 is irradiated on the inside of the sample 1 and through the objective lens 12. The objective lens 12 is surrounded by a dark-field ring lens 14. The objective lens 12 and the dark-field ring lens 14 constitute a dark-field objective lens 15.

On the other hand, observation light from the sample 13 passes through the objective lens 12 and is coupled by the prism 9 for differential interference, and then passes through the half mirror 7 and enters the analyzer 16. The analyzer 16 acts so as to cause the two rays combined by the differential interference prism 9 to interfere with each other. The two rays caused to interfere with each other are imaged by the imaging lens 17 to have a differential interference image having a contrast of the interference color. Is generated.

In a microscope using such an optical system, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, an upper dark field tube 8 is formed on a mounting seat 18, and a lower dark field tube 11 is provided.
Are formed on the revolver 21. The mounting seat 18 has a slider insertion / removal opening 19 formed between the upper dark-field tube 8 and the lower dark-field tube 11, and holds the slider 10 for epi-differential differential interference in the slider insertion / removal opening 19. The mounting seat 18 has a revolver 21 rotatably provided below the slider insertion / removal opening 19, and the dark field objective lens 15 is mounted on the revolver 21.

Here, a case where such an epi-illumination differential interference optical system is switched to an epi-illumination dark field optical system will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the epi-illumination dark-field optical system. In this epi-illumination dark-field optical system, the polarizer 6, the analyzer 16, and the slider 10 for epi-illumination differential interference are removed from the optical path from the epi-illumination differential interference optical system shown in FIG. It is a thing.

That is, the illumination light emitted from the light source 1 is reflected by the dark-field cube 22 after passing through the FS lens group 5, and the reflected light is outside the dark-field cylinders 8 and 11 and the dark-field ring lens 14. The sample 13 is radiated through the sample 13. Observation light from the sample 13 passes through the objective lens 12 and the inside of the dark-field tubes 8 and 11 and is formed into an image by the imaging lens 17 to obtain an observation image.

The epi-differential interference optical system and the epi-dark field optical system are composed of the polarizer 6 and the analyzer 1 as described above.
6 and alternately by attaching / detaching the slider 10 for epi-illumination differential interference and exchanging the mirror 7 with the cube 22 for dark field.

[0010]

However, in the above-mentioned microscope, the slider 10 for epi-illumination differential interference is extracted from the optical path when switching from the epi-illumination differential interference optical system to the epi-illumination dark field optical system. As shown in FIG. 10, there is no dark-field tube for separating the illumination light and the observation light in the space where the incident-light differential interference slider 10 is located, so that the illumination light is incident on the observation light and the observation image is degraded. There is a problem.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and a clear observation image can be obtained by separating illumination light and observation light at a slider insertion / removal opening in an epi-illumination dark field microscope. The objective is to provide a simple microscope.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an illumination light input unit disposed on an observation optical path without interrupting observation light from an objective lens. And an epi-illumination optical system for illuminating the observation sample by allowing light to enter, a slider insertion / removal opening is provided between the illumination light incident portion and the objective lens, and a slider is inserted / removed into / from the slider insertion / removal opening. In the microscope that switches the method, in the case of an epi-illumination dark-field spectroscope, a microscope equipped with a dark-field slider that is inserted into the slider insertion / removal opening instead of the slider and forms a separation tube that separates illumination light and observation light. is there.

A second aspect of the present invention is a microscope according to the first aspect, further comprising an optical element that can be used when the dark-field slider is different from that used in the incident-light dark-field microscope. .

[0014]

Therefore, the invention according to the first aspect of the present invention employs the above-described means. In the case of an epi-illumination dark-field speculum, the dark-field slider inserted into the slider insertion / removal slot emits illumination light and observation light. Since a separation tube is formed to separate the illumination light and the observation light at the slider insertion / removal port in the case of the epi-illumination dark field spectroscope, a clear observation image can be obtained.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the dark-field slider has an optical element that can be used when the dark-field slider is different from an epi-illumination dark-field speculum. It is easy to switch from an epi-illumination dark-field speculum to another speculum using this optical element.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a dark field slider applied to the microscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the mounting seat 18 when inserted into the slider insertion / removal opening. The same parts as those in FIGS. 5 to 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. Only different parts will be described here.

The dark field slider 31 has an opening 32 having a diameter larger than that of the upper and lower dark field tubes 8 and 11.
Are formed, and 3
Three beam portions 33a to 33c are provided, and each beam portion 33a to 33c is provided.
Reference numeral 3c fixes a separation tube 34 formed in a cylindrical shape having the same diameter as the upper and lower dark field tubes 8 and 11.

Next, the operation of such a microscope will be described. When switching from the differential interference optical system to the dark field optical system, the polarizer 6 and the analyzer 1 are operated by the operator.
6 and the slider 10 for epi-illumination differential interference are removed, and the mirror 7 and the dark-field cube 22 are replaced.
It is assumed that the dark field slider 31 is inserted into the slider insertion / removal opening 19 as shown in FIG.

The illumination light from the light source 1 is a dark-field cube 2
The reflected light passes through the upper dark-field tube 8, the separation tube 34 and the outside of the lower dark-field tube 11, passes through the dark-field ring lens 14 in the dark-field objective lens 15, and then the sample is reflected. 13 is irradiated.

On the other hand, the observation light from the sample 13 passes through the objective lens 12 and the lower dark-field tube 11 and the separation tube 34.
Then, an image is formed by the imaging lens 17 through the inside of the upper dark-field tube 8, and an observation image is obtained.

At this time, the separation cylinder 34 separates the illumination light and the observation light, thereby preventing the illumination light from being incident on the observation light, thereby preventing the observation image from deteriorating and providing a clearer observation image. Can be obtained.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, in the case of an epi-illumination dark-field speculum, the dark-field slider 31 inserted into the slider slot 19 separates the illumination light and the observation light. Therefore, unlike the related art, it is possible to prevent the observation light from deteriorating by preventing the illumination light from being incident on the observation light, and to obtain a clearer and higher-contrast observation image.

Next, a microscope according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a dark field slider applied to this microscope. The dark field slider 41 includes a slider section 42 and a dark field cylindrical section 43.
It is composed of

The dark-field tube 43 is formed of a separation tube 4 having the same diameter as the upper and lower dark-field tubes 8 and 11 and having a cylindrical shape.
4, and three beam portions 45a to 45c are provided from the upper portion of the separation cylinder 44 toward the outside in the horizontal direction. Each of the beam portions 45a to 45c is attached to a collar portion 46 formed in a ring shape having a diameter larger than the illumination light path in the dark field. That is, the inner diameter of the collar 46 and the outer diameter of the separation cylinder 44
Each of the beams 45a to 45c is interposed therebetween. Paraphrase
And the outer diameter of the separation cylinder 44 is smaller than the inner diameter of the collar 46 by each beam.
The value is smaller by the portions 45a to 45c.

On the other hand, the slider portion 42 has an opening 47 having the same diameter as the inner diameter of the flange 46, and a holding hole having a diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the flange 46 around the opening 47. 48 is formed so as to have the same depth as the thickness of the brim portion 46. That is, the outer diameter of the separation cylinder 44 is
Smaller than the diameter of the opening 47 by the width of each of the beams 45a to 45c
Value. The holding hole 48 engages with the flange 46 to hold the flange 46. In order to make the flange 46 easily detachable, a part of the holding hole 48 is cut off on the side of the slider 42, Further, three magnets 49a to 49c for fixing the collar 46 are embedded. Also,
The flange 46 is provided with each of the magnets 49a to 49c of the holding hole 48.
A magnet or a magnetic material (not shown) is provided at a lower portion corresponding to the above, and this magnet can be attracted to each of the magnets 49 a to 49 c of the holding hole 48.

Accordingly, the flange 46 of the dark-field tube 43 is engaged with the holding hole 48 of the slider 42 and the holding hole 4
The dark field slider 41 is formed by causing the magnets 49a to 49c of the 8 to attract the magnets 49a to 49c of the brim portion 46.

The magnet is provided on at least one of the slider 41 and the separation tube 44, and a magnet or a magnetic body is provided on the other side of the magnet so that the separation tube 44 can be magnetically positioned and fixed to the slider 41. it can.

Hereinafter, as described above, the dark-field slider 4
By inserting 1 into the mounting seat 18, an epi-illumination dark-field optical system is formed, and a clear observation image can be obtained.
As described above, according to the second embodiment, even if the dark-field slider 41 is configured by combining the slider section 42 and the dark-field cylinder section 43, the first embodiment is implemented in the same manner. The effect of can be obtained.

Next, a microscope according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a dark field slider applied to this microscope, and a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

The dark field slider 51 is provided with a beam portion 52 at a rear end 51a, and the beam portion 52 is formed in a cylindrical shape having the same diameter as the upper and lower dark field tubes 8 and 11. The separation cylinder 53 is fixed.

The dark-field slider 51 has a differential interference prism 54 as an optical element on the front side of the separation tube 53. In the dark-field slider 51, a first groove 55 is formed on a side portion along the vertical direction, and a first groove 55 is formed between the first groove 55 and the center of the inside of the separation tube 53 and the center of the differential interference prism 54. First groove 5 separated by a distance
A second groove 56 is formed in parallel with 5.

On the other hand, in the mounting seat 18 (not shown), the dark-field slider 51 is inserted into the slider insertion / removal opening 19, and when the inner center of the separation tube 53 of the dark-field slider 51 is aligned with the center of the optical path, the dark field slider is dark. A click mechanism (not shown) is provided inside so as to engage with a first groove 55 formed on a side portion of the visual field slider 51.

Next, the operation of such a microscope will be described. By the operation of the operator, the dark-field slider 51 is inserted into the slider insertion / removal opening 19, and the click mechanism of the mounting seat 18 is engaged with the first groove 55, whereby the dark-field slider 51 is positioned. At this time, the dark-field slider 5
One separation tube 53 is inserted into the optical path, and the microscope constitutes an epi-illumination dark-field optical system.

On the other hand, when switching from the epi-illumination dark-field optical system to the differential interference optical system, the polarizer 16 is mounted in the same manner as described above, and the dark-field slider 51 is further inserted by the operation of the operator. The click mechanism 18 engages with the second groove 56 to position the dark field slider 51. At this time, the differential interference prism 54 held by the dark field slider 51 is inserted in the optical path, and the microscope forms a differential interference optical system.

When switching from the differential interference optical system to the epi-illumination dark-field optical system again, the polarizer 16 is removed in the same manner as described above, and then the dark-field slider 51 is pulled by an operator's operation to mount the mounting seat 18. The click mechanism is engaged with the first groove 55.

As described above, one dark field slider 51
Can be used to switch between the epi-illumination dark-field optical system and the differential interference optical system, and a clear observation image can be obtained by the separation cylinder 53 as described above.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, since the dark-field slider 51 is provided with the differential interference prism 54 that can be used when the dark-field slider 51 is different from that of the epi-illumination dark-field spectroscope, In addition to the effects of the embodiment, it is possible to easily switch from the epi-illumination dark-field speculum to the epi-illumination differential interference spectroscopy using the differential interference prism 54.

In the first to third embodiments, a case has been described in which an epi-illumination differential interference spectroscope can be used in addition to the epi-illumination dark-field spectroscope. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can be carried out in the same manner and the same effect can be obtained regardless of the configuration in which a speculum method such as a polarization method can be used, or the configuration of an infinite optical system or a finite optical system.

Further, in the third embodiment, the dark-field slider 51
Has described the case where the differential interference prism 54 is held. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the dark field slider may hold an optical element used for the other light inspection method by using another light inspection method. The same effect can be obtained by implementing the present invention in the same manner. In addition, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.

[0040]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the case of an epi-illumination dark-field speculum, the dark-field slider inserted into the slider insertion opening separates the illumination light and the observation light. Since the tube is formed, it is possible to provide a microscope capable of obtaining a clear observation image by separating the illumination light and the observation light at the slider insertion / removal port in the case of the epi-illumination dark field spectroscope.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the dark field slider is provided with an optical element which can be used when the dark field slider is different from that of the epi-illumination dark field speculum. Thus, it is possible to provide a microscope that can be easily switched from an epi-illumination dark-field microscope to another microscope using this optical element.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a dark field slider applied to a microscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and its AA.
FIG.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a mounting seat in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a dark field slider applied to the microscope according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a dark field slider applied to the microscope according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and its BB line.
FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an epi-illumination differential interference optical system of a conventional microscope.

FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating a configuration of a mounting seat of a conventional microscope.

FIG. 7 is a side view and a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a mounting seat of a conventional microscope.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an epi-illumination dark-field optical system of a conventional microscope.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a configuration of a mounting seat of a conventional microscope.

FIG. 10 is a side view and a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a mounting seat of a conventional microscope.

[Explanation of symbols]

31, 41, 51 ... dark field slider, 32, 47 ... opening, 33a to 33c, 45a to 45c, 52 ... beam,
34, 44, 53 ... separation cylinder, 42 ... slider part, 43 ...
Dark field tube part, 46 ... collar part, 48 ... holding hole, 49a-
49c: magnet, 55: first groove, 56: second groove.

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. An epi-illumination optical system for illuminating an observation sample by irradiating illumination light with an illumination light incident portion arranged on an observation optical path without blocking observation light from an objective lens,
A microscope that switches a microscopy method by providing a slider insertion / removal opening between the illumination light incident portion and the objective lens and inserting / removing a slider into / from the slider insertion / removal opening; A microscope provided with a dark-field slider which is inserted into the slider insertion / removal opening and forms a separation tube for separating illumination light and observation light. 2. The microscope according to claim 1, wherein the dark-field slider includes an optical element that can be used at a time different from that of the incident-light dark-field microscope.