Patent ID: 9709786
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: G01N,G02B

Claim:
1. A non-linear microscope, comprising: an illuminating unit focusing an illuminating light supplied from a light source onto a specimen and generating thereby a coherent non-linear optical process at a collecting point at which the illuminating light is focused; a detecting unit detecting a coherent object light which occurred in the non-linear optical process at the collecting point and generating a signal indicating light intensity at a light detecting part at which the object light is detected; and a controlling unit repeatedly acquiring the signal generated by the detecting unit while scanning a specimen plane of the specimen by the collecting point and measuring a distribution of the signal on the specimen plane, wherein at least one of an optical path of the illuminating light directed from the light source toward the specimen and an optical path of the object light directed from the specimen toward the light detecting part is duplicated to a pair of optical paths, wherein a relationship between the pair of optical paths is set to a symmetric relationship with respect to the specimen plane, and wherein the non-linear microscope further comprises: a beam splitter being movable between a position at which the beam splitter is removed from the optical path of the illuminating light supplied from the light source and a position at which the beam splitter is inserted into the optical path of the illuminating light, and splitting the illuminating light into the pair of optical paths at the position at which the beam splitter is inserted into the optical path of the illuminating light; a first wavelength selection filter moving between a state in which the first wavelength selection filter is removed from one optical path of the pair of optical paths and a state in which the first wavelength selection filter is inserted into the one optical path, and cutting the object light emitted from the specimen plane in the state in which the first wavelength selection filter is inserted into the one optical path; and a second wavelength selection filter moving between a state in which the second wavelength selection filter is removed from the other optical path of the pair of optical paths and a state in which the second wavelength selection filter is inserted into the other optical path, and cutting the illuminating light directed toward the specimen plane in the state in which the second wavelength selection filter is inserted into the other optical path, wherein a mode of the non-linear microscope is further configured to be switched between following five modes (a) to (e): (a) bilateral irradiation and bilateral detection mode, which is a mode in which the beam splitter is held at the position at which the beam splitter is inserted into the optical path of the illuminating light and the first wavelength selection filter is held in the state in which the first wavelength selection filter is removed from the one optical path and the second wavelength selection filter is held in the state in which the second wavelength selection filter is removed from the other optical path, so that both of the optical path of the illuminating light and the optical path of the object light are duplicated, (b) bilateral irradiation and unilateral detection mode, which is a mode in which the beam splitter is held at the position at which the beam splitter is inserted into the optical path of the illuminating light and the first wavelength selection filter is held in the state in which the first wavelength selection filter is inserted into the one optical path and the second wavelength selection filter is held in the state in which the second wavelength selection filter is removed from the other optical path, so that the optical path of the object light is not duplicated, (c) unilateral irradiation and bilateral detection mode, which is a mode in which the beam splitter is held at the position at which the beam splitter is inserted into the optical path of the illuminating light and the first wavelength selection filter is held in the state in which the first wavelength selection filter is removed from the one optical path and the second wavelength selection filter is held in the state in which the second wavelength selection filter is inserted into the other optical path, so that the optical path of the illuminating light is not duplicated, (d) transmitting observation mode, which is a mode in which the beam splitter is held at the position at which the beam splitter is inserted into the optical path of the illuminating light and the first wavelength selection filter is held in the state in which the first wavelength selection filter is inserted into the one optical path and the second wavelength selection filter is held in the state in which the second wavelength selection filter is inserted into the other optical path, so that the optical path of the illuminating light and the optical path of the object light are not duplicated, and in which the object light emitted from the collecting point toward a downstream side of the illuminating light is detected, and (e) reflecting observation mode, which is a mode in which the beam splitter is held at the position at which the beam splitter is removed from the optical path of the illuminating light and the first wavelength selection filter is held in the state in which the first wavelength selection filter is inserted into the one optical path and the second wavelength selection filter is held in the state in which the second wavelength selection filter is removed from the other optical path, so that the optical path of the illuminating light and the optical path of the object light are not duplicated, and in which the object light emitted from the collecting point toward an upstream side of the illuminating light is detected.