Provided herein is a method for identifying and correcting optical aberrations within a sample under optical microscopy. The method includes providing a plurality of optical beams including at least a first optical beam and a second optical beam; modulating at least one of the optical beams at one or more frequencies; providing a combined optical beam at least partially superimposed in time by the first optical beam and the second optical beam; focusing the combined optical beam into the sample; detecting a first signal excited by the combined optical beam in the sample; demodulating the first signal by at least one lock-in amplifier to obtain a second signal including performing a plurality of measurements of spatial positions of the first optical beam with respect to the second optical beam; identifying and correcting the optical aberrations by the second signal through obtaining the electric-field point spread function of the optical beams.

Methods and system for chromatic confocal microscopy are described. One example chromatic confocal microscope system includes a hyperchromatic objective lens configured to focus the light of different wavelengths onto different corresponding focal planes that are separated from one another within a sample object, focusing optics positioned to receive multi-spectral light reflected from the sample object after passing through the hyperchromatic objective lens, a detection slit to receive light from the focusing optics and to block at least a portion of light that is incident thereon, and a grating positioned to receive light after passing through the detection slit and to produce spatially separated light of different wavelengths to enable the detection of spatially separated light by an imaging sensor. The described chromatic confocal microscopes may be used to develop low-cost chromatic confocal endoscopes for disease diagnosis of human internal organs in vivo.

A holographic imaging system comprises an imaging light source defining an imaging light path, an active light source defining an active light path directed at a target, a polarizer configured to modify the polarization of the active light path, a polarization beam splitter positioned in the active light path and the imaging light path, configured to separate the active light path and the imaging light path, and a photodetector positioned at a terminus of the active light path, configured to measure a reflection of the active light source. A method of holographic imaging is also described.

A method for examining a sample by light sheet microscopy includes illuminating a sample surface located in an illumination plane by a light sheet propagating in the illumination plane. A position of a light sheet focal point of the light sheet in the illumination plane is moved by changing an optical length of a light path of illumination light forming the light sheet. Detection light emanating from the illumination plane is detected.

A microscopy method, and related microscope, including producing illumination radiation and directing it at a focus. The illumination radiation is switched temporally between at least two modes, such that focus modulation is effected at which temporally varying and mutually different mode fields of the illumination radiation are produced in the focus. The focus is guided at least over regions of a sample to be examined, wherein detection radiation in the sample is or may be brought about by the illumination radiation in the focus at least at a point of origin. The detection radiation is captured in a manner assigned to the at least one point of origin. In addition to the illumination radiation, at least one disexcitation beam of rays of disexcitation radiation is directed at the focus. The disexcitation radiation prevents the detection radiation from being brought about in the region that is illuminated by the disexcitation radiation.

A microscope having three-dimensional imaging capability and a three-dimensional microscopic imaging method are provided, the microscope including: at least one excitation device configured to generate a detectable contrast in a detection target region of a sample which is to be detected, in an excitation principal axis direction; at least one detection device, configured to detect the contrast as generated from the detection target region of the sample in a detection principal axis; and at least one movement mechanism, configured to generate a relative movement of the sample relative to the excitation device and the detection device; the relative movement is in a direction neither parallel to nor perpendicular to the excitation principal axis direction or the detection principal axis direction.

The present application discloses a light sheet microscope for imaging biological materials. The microscope uses a plurality of light beams, focused to an overlapping line to excite a fluorescent material within the biological sample. The laser-induced fluorescence image is then analyzed and displayed.

We describe in this application systems and methods for autofocusing in imaging mass spectrometry. The present application describes improvements over current IMS and IMC apparatus and methods through an autofocus component including a plurality of apertures in the autofocus system, such as a plurality of apertures arranged in 2 dimensions. As a plurality of apertures is used, the autofocus system provides redundancy in the event that measurement of focus on the sample from the illuminating radiation passed through one or more of the apertures fails so as to reduce the number of unsuccessful autofocus attempts.

The present disclosure relates to a method for evaluating the quality of graphene, and may provide a method capable of evaluating in real time the quality of graphene, which is being continuously formed, by using a confocal laser scanning microscope.

A confocal microscope includes a data acquisition unit configured to acquire a rough-shape data indicating a rough shape of a sample, an illumination light source configured to generate illumination light for illuminating the sample, an objective lens configured to concentrate the illumination light on the sample, an optical scanner configured to scan an illuminated place on the sample in a field of view of the objective lens, a stage configured to scan the illuminated place along the rough shape of the sample by changing a position of the objective lens relative to the sample, and an optical detector configured to detect reflected light through a confocal optical system, the reflected light being light that has been reflected on the sample and has passed through the objective lens.