In a sample observation device, when the angle formed by an optical axis of an emission optical system and a normal of a scanning surface is 1 and the angle formed by an optical axis of an imaging optical system and the normal of the scanning surface is 2, both 1 and 2 are 80 or less, and 1+2 is 100 or more. In an image acquisition unit, an image acquisition region F.sub.n+1, m+1 in the (m+1)-th frame of the (n+1)-th pixel is shifted from an image acquisition region F.sub.n, m in the m-th frame of the n-th pixel in a scanning direction of a sample according to the scanning amount of the sample in the exposure time of one frame.

A method and an optical arrangement for ascertaining a resultant power of radiation in a sample plane (8) of an optical arrangement. In a step A, a current configuration of optical elements in a beam path of the optical arrangement is captured. In a step B, radiation is provided and directed into the sample plane (8) along the beam path. At least one measured value of the power of the radiation in the sample plane (8) is captured as resultant power in step C and the measured values in respect of the respectively current configuration are stored in a step D. Steps A to D are repeated for at least one further current configuration.

The invention relates to an optical arrangement and a method for correcting centration errors and/or angle errors in a beam path. The beam path here comprises an optical compensated system in which at least two optical elements are present and aligned relative to one another such that imaging aberrations of the optical elements are compensated. According to the invention, a correction unit is arranged in an infinity space of the beam path and between the at least two optical elements, wherein the correction unit changes the propagation direction of radiation propagating along the beam path and the correction unit either has a reflective surface or is embodied to be transmissive for the radiation. The correction unit is movable such that the angle of a change in the propagation direction can be set.

A scanning microscope includes a scanning unit that causes irradiation light emitted by a light source to scan a sample, an optical system that guides the emitted light that has passed through the scanning unit to the sample, an isolation unit that includes a transmissive portion that enables the irradiation light to pass the transmissive portion and a reflective portion that reflects at least some of light that is included in emitted light generated from the sample as a result of the irradiation light being radiated to the sample and that has passed through the optical system and the scanning unit, and a detection unit that detects the emitted light that has passed through the isolation unit. The isolation unit is disposed in an optical path of the irradiation light between the light source and the scanning unit.

Methods, devices and systems for up to three-dimensional scanning of target regions at high magnification are disclosed.

A graduated filter arrangement, an optical arrangement having a graduated filter arrangement, and uses of a graduated filter arrangement, where the filter arrangement has a graduated filter that is moveable in relation to a beam path and is provided in an intended filter plane, and a mirror in a mirror plane. The mirror plane and the intended filter plane are aligned fixedly in relation to one another and relative to one another in such a way that a beam of light rays that is incident at an angle of incidence along the beam path is reflected, at least in part, between the graduated filter and the mirror in such a way that there at least is a two-fold deflection of the incident light ray by the graduated filter arrangement and the reflected light ray is reflected as a beam of reflected light rays at a deflection angle. The optical effect of a present angle error between the intended filter plane and an actual filter plane provided by the current relative position of the chief plane of the graduated filter is reduced as a consequence of the at least two-fold deflection, and the deflection angle remains constant.

This disclosure provides systems and methods for mapping and/or measuring a mechanical property of a medium. The mechanical property can be measured by Brillouin spectroscopy. The systems and methods can include a three-dimensional imaging modality that is co-registered with a Brillouin probe beam of a Brillouin spectrometer. The three-dimensional imaging modality can be optical coherence tomography or Scheimpflug camera imaging.

A super-resolution lattice light field microscopic imaging system includes: a microscope configured to magnify a sample and image the sample onto a first image plane of the microscope; a first relay lens configured to match a numerical aperture of an objective with that of a microlens array; a 2D scanning galvo configured to rotate an angle of a light path in the frequency domain plane; an illuminating system configured to provide uniform illumination on the microlens array to generate SIM pattern illumination; the microlens array, configured to modulate a light beam with a preset angle to a target spatial position at a back focal plane of the microlens array to obtain a modulated image; an image sensor configured to record the modulated image; and a reconstruction module configured to reconstruct a 3D structure of the sample based on the modulated image.

Dual mode imaging systems and methods for macroscopic and microscopic imaging using the same optical imaging system (OIS). The various embodiments enable controllable and/or automated switching between macroscopic imaging and microscopic imaging modes. A dual mode imaging system includes a sample platform movable relative to an OIS between first and second locations, and a light source subsystem configured to generate and project an illumination beam onto a focal plane. When in the first location, the sample platform coincides with the focal plane, and the OIS receives light from the sample platform along a first detection light path. When in the second location, the illumination beam interacts with relay optics and impinges on the sample platform through an objective lens, and the light from the sample platform is directed back through the objective lens and relay optics to the OIS via the first detection path.

A confocal inspection system can optically characterize a sample. An objective lens, or separate incident and return lenses, can deliver incident light from a light source to the sample, and can collect light from the sample. Confocal optics can direct the collected light onto a detector. The system can average the incident light over multiple locations at the sample, for example, by scanning the incident light with a pivotable mirror in the incident and return optical paths, or by illuminating and collecting with multiple spaced-apart confocal apertures. The system can average the collected light, for example, by directing the collected light onto a single-pixel detector, or by directing the collected light onto a multi-pixel detector and averaging the pixel output signals to form a single electronic signal. Averaging the incident and/or return light can be advantageous for structured or inhomogeneous samples.