Methods and apparatuses are disclosed whereby structured illumination microscopy (SIM) is applied to a scanning microscope, such as a confocal laser scanning microscope or sample scanning microscope, in order to improve spatial resolution. Particular aspects of the disclosure relate to the discovery of important advances in the ability to (i) increase light throughput to the sample, thereby increasing the signal/noise ratio and/or decreasing exposure time, as well as (ii) decrease the number of raw images to be processed, thereby decreasing image acquisition time. Both effects give rise to significant improvements in overall performance, to the benefit of users of scanning microscopy.

Systems, devices, media, and methods are presented for displaying a virtual object on the display of a portable eyewear device using motion data gathered by a face-tracking application on a mobile device. A controller engine leverages the processing power of a mobile device to locate the face supporting the eyewear, locate the hand holding the mobile device, acquire the motion data, and calculate an apparent path of the virtual object. The virtual object is displayed in a series of locations along the apparent path, based on both the course traveled by the mobile device (in the hand) and the track traveled by the eyewear device (on the face), so that the virtual object is persistently viewable to the user.

The invention relates to a device for measuring a mask for microlithography, the device including an imaging device and an autofocusing device. The imaging device comprises an imaging optical unit with a focal plane for imaging the mask, an object stage for mounting the mask, and a movement module for producing a relative movement between object stage and imaging optical unit. The autofocusing device is configured to generate a focusing image by way of the imaging of a focusing structure in a focusing image plane intersecting the focal plane, in which the focusing structure is embodied as a gap. Furthermore, the invention relates to an autofocusing method for a device for measuring a mask for microlithography.

A microscope for computational microscopic layer separation may include an imaging device that includes a lens and an image sensor, an illumination system for illuminating a sample, and an actuator to adjust an axial position of a focal plane with respect to the sample. The microscope may also include a processor operatively coupled to the imaging device and the illumination system. The processor may be configured to measure, using the image sensor and the illumination system, optical aberrations of the imaging device at the axial position, and determine whether to adjust the focal plane with respect to the sample in response to the one or more optical aberrations. Various other systems and methods are also disclosed.

An auto-focusing system is disclosed. The system includes an illumination source. The system includes an aperture. The system includes a projection mask. The system includes a detector assembly. The system includes a relay system, the relay system being configured to optically couple illumination transmitted through the projection mask to an imaging system. The relay system also being configured to project one or more patterns from the projection mask onto a specimen and transmit an image of the projection mask from the specimen to the detector assembly. The system includes a controller including one or more processors configured to execute a set of program instructions. The program instructions being configured to cause the one or more processors to: receive one or more images of the projection mask from the detector assembly and determine quality of the one or more images of the projection mask.

A method for operating a microscopy system and to a microscopy system are provided. A pivot point is defined, wherein the microscopy system is operated such that a microscope of the microscopy system moves at a constant distance around the pivot point, wherein a reference surface is determined, wherein an intersection of an optical axis of the microscope and the reference surface is determined as the pivot point, wherein the pose of the reference surface is defined in a focal position-independent reference coordinate system and the pivot point is determined as the intersection of the optical axis with the thus defined reference surface in the reference coordinate system.

A light sheet microscope includes an objective, an illumination optical system, a first adjustor, a second adjustor and a controller. The illumination optical system irradiates sample with a light sheet from a direction that is different from an optical axis direction of the objective. The first adjustor adjusts a relative position between a light sheet plane on which the light sheet is formed and the objective in an optical axis direction of the objective. The second adjustor adjusts a relative position between the light sheet plane and the sample in an optical axis direction of the objective. The controller controls the first adjustor on the basis of light that is from the light sheet plane and that is detected via the objective when a relative position between the light sheet plane and the sample is changed by the second adjustor.

This disclosure also teaches a system and method for scanning a specimen into a focus-stacked scan. In one embodiment, a method for scanning the specimen into a focus-stacked scan can comprise illuminating the specimen with a light. The specimen can comprise a topography. The depths of the topography can be variable along a z-axis. The method can also comprise dividing the specimen into a plurality of regions. Each of the regions can comprise a regional peak in the topography. Additionally, the method can comprise sampling each of the regions at a plurality of focal planes orthogonal to the z-axis by capturing, at each focal plane, an image of the region. The image can be focused on the focal plane. Lastly, the method can comprise focus-stacking, for each of the region the images within the region, into a focus-stacked image, and stitching together the focus-stacked images.

Provided are a tiling light sheet selective plane illumination microscope (TLS-SPIM), a use method thereof and a microscope system. The use method includes loading a corresponding phase map to each group of pupil subsections of a pupil by a spatial light modulator, and performing phase modulation on an excitation beam to create at least two coaxial excitation beam arrays scanning the created at least two coaxial excitation beam arrays to generate discontinuous light sheets accordingly; and tiling at least one of the generated discontinuous light sheets in the propagation direction of the excitation light to obtain tiling light sheets for selective plane illumination of a sample. The method of using the TLS-SPIM, the TLS-SPIM and the system including same enables significant increasing of imaging speed, improvement of resolution, and reduction of source data amount.

Systems, devices, media, and methods are presented for displaying a virtual object on the display of a portable eyewear device using motion data gathered by a face-tracking application on a mobile device. A controller engine leverages the processing power of a mobile device to locate the face supporting the eyewear, locate the hand holding the mobile device, acquire the motion data, and calculate an apparent path of the virtual object. The virtual object is displayed in a series of locations along the apparent path, based on both the course traveled by the mobile device (in the hand) and the track traveled by the eyewear device (on the face), so that the virtual object is persistently viewable to the user.