Patent ID: 7345816

Claim:
An optical microscope, comprising: a light source which irradiates a sample with an illuminating light; a mirror which has a variable reflection surface for reflecting the illuminating light; a correction table which stores plural data of plural shapes of the reflection surface which correspond to changes in a focal position and an aberration; an optical receiver which receives light emitted by the sample; and a controller which selects, from the plural data stored in the correction table, data of one of the shapes of the reflection surface that is suitable for correcting the focal position and the aberration, and which controls the mirror so that the reflection surface forms the shape corresponding to the selected data; wherein the controller controls the mirror so that the reflection surface sequentially forms a plurality of the plural shapes corresponding to the plural data stored in the correction table and the controller selects the data of the one of the shapes formed by the reflection surface that causes an amount of the light received by the optical receiver to reach a maximum.