Patent ID: 7304315
Filing Date: 2007-12-04
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A three-dimensional analyzing device comprising: a first beam source for generating a first beam; a second beam source for generating a second beam having a different wavelength than said first beam; a spatial modulation unit for subjecting said second beam to a spatial modulation; an optical system for three-dimensionally confining a photoactive region in a specimen by irradiating said first beam and said second beam, which has been modulated by said spatial modulation unit, so that said first beam spatially overlaps said second beam at least partly and by utilizing a fluorescence inhibition effect caused by the overlapping of the first beam and the second beam; and a photo acceptance element for receiving a response light emitted from said photoactive region; wherein said spatial modulation unit comprises a spatial phase modulation unit including a phase distribution region so as to produce a spatially discontinuous phase difference of (2m+1)π in said second beam over a radial direction from an optical axis in a pupil of said optical system, where m is an integer.