Integrated microscope providing near-field and light microscopy
US5808790A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 10, 1997 |
| Grant date | Sep 15, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 10, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB82Y35/00
- WIPO fieldMicro-structural and nano-technology
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
Apparatus are disclosed that perform, on demand, both near-field microscopy (NFM) and light-microscopy (e.g., bright-field microscopy or phase-contrast microscopy) of a specimen. The apparatus comprises an NFM microscope including an NFM probe, a first condenser lens system that converges a center portion of an illumination-light flux at a first terminus of the NFM probe, and a second condenser lens system that converges an annular portion of the illumination-light flux at a specimen to illuminate the specimen by Kohler illumination. Evanescent light from a distal terminus of the NFM probe passes to a locus on the specimen. Downstream optics capture light transmitted and/or scattered from the specimen from the NFM probe and from the Kohler illumination to produce both a light-microscope image of the specimen and an NFM image of the specimen.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.