Patent ID: 8536543

Claim:
A super-resolution microscope for observing a specimen containing a substance having at least two or more excited quantum state, comprising: a light source section that outputs a first illumination light for exciting the substance from a stable state to a first quantum state, and a second illumination light for further transitioning the substance to other quantum state; an optical system including a microscope objective lens and condensing the first illumination light and the second illumination light, each outputted from the light source section, onto the specimen in a manner that these lights are partially overlapped with each other; a detection section that detects an optical response signal emitted from the specimen in response to condensing of the first illumination light and the second illumination light; and, a polarization controlling element provided with a polarizing member that converts a polarization state of the first illumination light or the second illumination light, and a phase modulation section and spatially modulating a phase of the second illumination light, wherein the polarization controlling element comprises the phase modulation section and an area other than the phase modulation section around the phase modulation section concentrically divided when viewed in the axial direction, and wherein the second illumination light that passes through the phase modulation section and the second illumination light that passes through the area other than the phase modulation section have opposite signs in terms of electric-field amplitude.