Patent ID: 11880026
Assignee: CARL ZEISS MICROSCOPY GMBH
Field: Optics (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 9:
10. A method of operating a microscope in a first operating mode and in a second operating mode, the method comprising:
in the first operating mode:
shaping excitation radiation (ER) in an excitation beam path with a first cylindrical optical element to limit a cross section of the excitation radiation in a first direction transverse to a propagation direction of the excitation radiation (ER) in a first direction;
reflecting the shaped the excitation radiation (ER) by means of a reflective element arranged at a tilt angle, wherein the tilt angle brings about a deviation of the reflected excitation radiation (ER) from an optical axis of the microscope;
shaping the reflected excitation radiation (ER) by means of a second cylindrical optical element such that a cross section of the shaped and reflected excitation radiation is extend in a second direction transverse to the propagation direction of the excitation radiation (ER), wherein the second direction is orthogonal to the first direction;
radiating the excitation radiation (ER) that has been shaped by the first and second cylindrical optical elements onto an image-side entry pupil (EP) of an objective in a manner not on the optical axis, such that an oblique light sheet is thereby generated in an object-side sample space; and
collecting, by means of the objective, detection radiation (DR) brought about by the excitation radiation (ER) in a sample that is located in the sample space, wherein the collected detection radiation (DR) is captured in a first detection path using light-field microscopy by means of a detector having an upstream microlens array;

and,
in the second operating mode, in which the first and the second cylindrical optical elements are removed from the excitation beam path:
directing the excitation radiation (ER) onto the sample in at least one focus;
guiding the focus over the sample in the manner of a grid; and
collecting the detection radiation (DR) brought about in the sample by the focused excitation radiation (ER) by means of the objective, wherein the collected detection radiation (DR) is captured in a confocal second detection path.