JPH08106051A - Vertical illuminating device for microscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To observe easily superpose the image of a pattern on the image of a sample so as to observe them by arranging a transparent substrate on which a prescribed pattern is formed on the conjugate position with the object plane of a vertical illuminating optical system for illuminating the transparent substrate. CONSTITUTION: This device is provided with a vertical illuminating optical system 5 for irradiating a sample 10 with an illuminating light beam from a light source 13. A transparent substrate 17 on which a prescribed pattern is formed is arranged on the conjugate position with the sample 10 of a vertical illuminating optical system 5 and the pattern is projected on the sample 10. When the sample 10 is observed, a light source 13 is turned on and the sample 10 is illuminated with the illuminating light beam through the transparent substrate 17 and an objective lens 8. Most of the illuminating beams from the light source 13 transmits through a part other than the pattern on the transparent substrate 17 and illuminates the front surface of the sample 10. A part of the illuminating beams is cut off by the pattern and does not reach the surface of the sample 10. Since the transparent substrate 17 is arranged on the conjugate position with the object plane of the surface of the sample 10, the pattern is projected on the surface of the sample 10 as dark lines.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an epi-illumination device for a microscope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, when observing the surface of a silicon wafer on which a circuit pattern is formed with a microscope with epi-illumination, a reticle is used to indicate the center of the visual field and other predetermined points, or to perform dimension measurement. scale,
It has been performed that a transparent substrate provided with a pattern such as an index is placed in the eyepiece lens barrel or on the intermediate image plane, and the image of the pattern is superimposed on the image of the specimen for observation.

[0003]

However, when a wide-angle eyepiece is used as the eyepiece, it is difficult to incorporate the patterned transparent substrate into the eyepiece lens barrel. Further, depending on the microscope, it is difficult to provide a transparent substrate having a pattern formed at the position of the intermediate image plane.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an epi-illumination device for a microscope which can easily superimpose a pattern such as a reticle, an index or a scale on an image of a sample.

[0005]

According to the present invention, an epi-illumination optical system 5 for irradiating a specimen 10 with illumination light from a light source 13 is provided.
In the epi-illumination device of the microscope 1 including the above, the transparent substrate 17 on which the predetermined pattern 25 is formed is arranged at a position conjugate with the sample 10 of the epi-illumination optical system 5, and the pattern 25 is set to the sample 10. It is characterized by projecting on.

The present invention preferably further comprises a second light source 27 which emits irradiation light of a color different from the illumination light.

[0007]

In the present invention, since the transparent substrate on which the pattern of the reticle, the index, the scale, etc. is formed is arranged at the conjugate position with respect to the sample of the epi-illumination optical system, the pattern of the reticle, the index, the scale, etc. can be easily formed. It can be superimposed.

[0008]

Embodiment 1 Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a side view of the first embodiment and also shows an optical layout. An arm portion 4 extending in a horizontal direction is provided on an upper portion of a column 3 that is set up on a pedestal 2 of the microscope 1. Inside the arm portion 4, there are provided an epi-illumination optical system 5 arranged in the horizontal direction, and an observation optical system 7 orthogonal to the epi-illumination optical system 5 via a half mirror 6 and arranged vertically. Has been. The objective lens 8 is supported by the arm 4 via a revolver 9, and the sample 10 is placed on a stage 12 that is horizontally movable on a support member 11 that extends horizontally from the column 3.

The epi-illumination optical system 5 includes a condenser lens 14 for converging illumination light from a light source 13, an aperture stop 15, a relay lens 16, a transparent substrate 17, a field lens 18 and a half mirror 6, and a transparent substrate 17 Is arranged at a position conjugate with the object plane on the surface of the sample 10 so as to be perpendicular to the optical axis of the epi-illumination optical system 5 and exchangeable.

The observation optical system 7 includes an objective lens 8 and an imaging lens 21, and a CCD 23 is provided on the imaging surface 22. The image of the object plane captured by the CCD 23 can be observed on a monitor television (not shown). Instead of the CCD 23, an eyepiece lens may be provided to allow observation with the naked eye.

Next, the transparent substrate 17 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to (b). 2A is a plan view of the transparent substrate 17, and FIG. 2B is a view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2A. A reticle pattern 25 is formed on the surface of a circular transparent substrate 17 by vacuum vapor deposition of chromium or chromium oxide. The vacuum deposition film of chromium or chromium oxide has a light-shielding property, and part of the illumination light from the light source 13 is blocked by the pattern 25. Since the position where the transparent substrate 17 is arranged is the position where the field diaphragm is originally arranged, the light shielding portion 31 is formed by a vacuum deposition film on the periphery of the transparent substrate 17 as the field diaphragm.

When observing the sample, the light source 13 is turned on and the sample 10 is illuminated with illumination light through the transparent substrate 17 and the objective lens 8. The light from the sample 10 enters the CCD 23 through the objective lens 8 and the captured image is observed on a monitor television (not shown).

Most of the illumination light from the light source 13 is transmitted through the transparent substrate 17 at a portion other than the pattern 25 and illuminates the surface of the sample 10. Part of the illumination light is blocked by the pattern 25 and does not reach the surface of the sample 10. Transparent substrate 17
Is arranged at a position conjugate with the object plane on the surface of the sample 10, so the pattern 25 is projected as a dark line on the surface of the sample 10. Therefore, the projected pattern can be observed by superimposing it on the image of the sample.

As another mode of this embodiment, for example, the light source 1
When the illumination light from 3 is white light and the sample is white metal, if the pattern 25 is formed of a red transparent film on the colorless transparent substrate 17, the surface of the sample 10 is a portion other than the pattern. Is illuminated with white light, and the pattern 25 is projected as a bright red pattern on the surface of the sample 10. According to this aspect, the pattern can be clearly recognized by the difference in color.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The same or similar members as in the first embodiment described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the epi-illumination optical system 5, a transparent substrate 26 is replaceably arranged at a position conjugate with the object plane on the surface of the sample 10.

The light source 27 includes a transparent substrate 26 and a field lens 18.
Is provided at a position apart from the optical axis so as not to obstruct the optical path of the illumination light, and the irradiation light emitted by the light source 27 obliquely irradiates the transparent substrate 26 from the field lens 18 side. The color of the irradiation light is different from the color of the illumination light from the light source 13, and both can be clearly discriminated. Irradiation light may be guided from the light source 27 to the transparent substrate 26 by a fiber.

Next, regarding the transparent substrate 26, as shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to (b). 4A is a plan view of the transparent substrate 26, and FIG. 4B is a view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4A. A groove 26a formed in a circular transparent substrate 26 is filled with white paint to form a pattern 30. The white paint consists of a transparent vehicle and a fine, opaque white pigment dispersed therein. Further, as in the first embodiment, a light shielding portion 32 is formed as a field stop on the periphery of the transparent substrate 26.

When observing the sample, the light source 13 and the light source 2
7 is turned on. Most of the illumination light from the light source 13 is transmitted through the transparent substrate 26 at a portion other than the pattern 30 and the sample 10
Illuminate the surface of. Part of the illumination light is scattered in the pattern 30. The illumination light is transmitted from the direction of the light source 13 to the transparent substrate 2
Since the light is incident on the sample 6, the scattered light hardly exits in the direction of the field lens 18 and does not face the sample 10. Therefore, the pattern projected by the illumination light is a dark line. On the other hand, the irradiation light from the light source 27 is obliquely transmitted from the field lens 18 side to the transparent substrate 2
The light is incident on the pattern 6 to irradiate the pattern 30, and the pattern 30 scatters. Most of the scattered irradiation light is emitted from the transparent substrate 26 in the direction of the field lens 18 toward the surface of the sample 10. Therefore, the pattern projected by the irradiation light is a bright line.

In this way, the portion of the surface of the sample 10 other than the portion on which the pattern 30 is projected is illuminated by the illumination light, and the pattern 30 is projected as a bright line by the irradiation light. Since the illumination light and the irradiation light have different colors, the projected pattern can be clearly recognized.

Patterns such as numbers or letters other than the patterns shown in both embodiments may be provided on the transparent substrate as needed.

Depending on the condition of the sample, an oblique illumination system, a ring illumination system, or the like may be separately provided to perform the main illumination by the transparent illumination system, and the epi-illumination system may mainly project the pattern. When observing a transparent or semi-transparent specimen such as a biological specimen, a transparent illumination system is separately provided and the main illumination is performed by the transparent illumination system. You may do it.

[0022]

According to the present invention, the transparent substrate on which the pattern of the reticle, the index, the scale, etc. is formed is arranged at a position conjugate with the object plane of the epi-illumination optical system for illuminating the transparent substrate. The image of the pattern can be easily superimposed on the image of the sample for observation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of a transparent substrate according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view and a sectional view of a transparent substrate according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Microscope 5 Epi-illumination optical system 6 Half mirror 7 Observation optical system 8 Objective lens 10 Sample 13・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Light source 14 ・ ・ ・ Condenser lens 15 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Aperture stop 16 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Relay lens 17, 26 ・ ・ ・ Transparent substrate 18 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Field lens 23 ... CCD 25, 30 ... pattern 27 ... light source

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An epi-illumination device of a microscope comprising an epi-illumination optical system for irradiating a specimen with illumination light from a light source, wherein the epi-illumination optical system is provided at a position conjugate with the sample.
An epi-illumination device for a microscope, wherein a transparent substrate on which a predetermined pattern is formed is arranged and the pattern is projected onto the sample. 2. A second light source that emits irradiation light of a color different from that of the illumination light is further provided.
The epi-illumination device for a microscope according to.