Patent ID: 6888680

Claim:
An optical arrangement for obtaining information from a sample or an observed object, comprising: a light source for illuminating the sample or observed object; reception device for the light proceeding from the sample or observed object; at least one beam splitter having a splitter surface with a transmittive area and a reflective area; light from said source being directed to the splitter surface, reflected by the reflective area of the splitter surface to a concave mirror, focused by the concave mirror onto the transmittive area and passing through the latter; or the light being focused onto the transmittive area, passing through the latter to a concave mirror, being directed from the concave mirror to the splitter surface and being deflected by the reflective area of the latter; the focusing being influenced by the geometry of the mirror surface of the concave mirror and distance between the concave mirror and splitter surface; a selected beam expansion being predetermined, or the wavefront of the light being manipulated for purposes of optimally adapting the light: to the characteristics of the rest of the optical component groups; or to the optical characteristics of the sample; or to the optical characteristics of the observed object; or any combination thereof; wherein the concave mirror includes a spherical concave mirror provided in the illumination beam path or in the detection beam path or both, which spherical concave mirror focuses the illumination light in a punctiform manner on the splitter surface, wherein the splitter surface is inclined by 450Â° relative to the incident illumination light and has in its center a circular or elliptical opening which forms the transmittive area and through which the illumination light passes, and the splitter surface is followed in the direction of light flow by another spherical concave mirror which reflects the illumination light in a collimated manner back to the splitter surface, where it is deflected in the direction of the sample or detection device by the reflecting rear side of the splitter surface.