Patent ID: 7560709

Claim:
A scanning laser microscope comprising: a first laser light source configured to emit ultrashort pulsed laser light for performing observation; a scanning unit configured to two-dimensionally scan the ultrashort pulsed laser light emitted from the first laser light source on a specimen; a second laser light source configured to emit continuous laser light for performing light stimulation; an irradiation-position adjusting unit configured to perform two-dimensional adjustment of an irradiation position, on the specimen, of the continuous laser light emitted from the second light source; an objective lens configured to focus the ultrashort pulsed laser light and the continuous laser light onto the specimen and to collect fluorescence generated, due to multiphoton excitation, in the specimen by emitting the ultrashort pulsed laser light for performing observation; a light-detecting unit configured to detect the fluorescence, which is split off from a light path between the objective lens and the scanning unit; and a continuous-laser-light switching unit configured to permit radiation of the continuous laser light from the second laser light source when the light-detecting unit does not detect a required fluorescence from the specimen based on the ultrashort pulsed laser light from the first laser light source.