Patent ID: 8908270

Claim:
A microscope apparatus comprising: a spatial light modulator that modulates a wavefront of illuminating light from a light source; a scanner that has two mirrors independently pivoted about two non-parallel axes and that two-dimensionally scans the illuminating light whose wavefront has been modulated by the spatial light modulator; a relay optical system that relays an image in the scanner to a pupil position of an objective optical system; and a beam-shift mechanism that moves rays of the illuminating light in a direction intersecting an optical axis, in response to pivoting of the mirrors, between the spatial light modulator and the objective optical system, wherein the beam-shift mechanism moves the rays such that the image at the pupil position of the objective optical system, when assuming that the mirrors are stationary, is moved in a direction opposite to a direction in which the image relayed to the pupil position of the objective optical system by the relay optical system, when assuming that the mirrors are pivoted with the rays fixed, is moved, and wherein the beam-shifting mechanism moves at least one lens of the relay optical system to keep the illuminating light relayed to the pupil position of the objective optical system stationary, regardless of the pivoting of the two mirrors.