Patent ID: 7414245

Claim:
A scintillator based microscope image system comprising: a) a submicron source of high energy radiation; b) a substantially rigid first plate substantially transparent in at least one spectral range within a spectral range including visible and ultraviolet ranges; c) a second plate substantially transparent in at least one type of ionizing radiation; d) a single crystal scintillation crystal defining a peak scintillation wavelength in the form of a crystalline plate sandwiched between said first and said second plates, said scintillation crystal defining an illumination surface and a viewing surface; wherein the high-energy radiation from said source are directed through a target to illuminate said illumination surface to produce a scintillation image of said target within said scintillation crystal; and e) dual focus optical microscopic elements for producing a magnified view of said scintillation image produced by said scintillation and also a visible light image of a surface of said target; said dual focus optical microscopic elements comprising: 1) a first set of optical elements focused on said illumination surface to obtain a shadow image of the target showing internal features of the target, and 2) a second set of optical elements focused on a surface of said target to obtain a surface image of the target.