Patent ID: 7872799

Claim:
A microscope having a light source for illuminating a specimen, means for detecting light coming from the specimen, and a device for controlling light radiation coming from at least one of the light source and the specimen, the device comprising: a plurality of light outlets; first polarizing means for spatially separating the light radiation into components of different polarization; a collinear acousto-optic tunable filter downstream of the first polarizing means for affecting the polarization of the components in a wavelength-dependent manner, wherein the light radiation incident on the acousto-optic tunable filter is in a condition free of dispersion, and wherein the acousto-optic tunable filter passes the light radiation in a condition free of dispersion; and second polarizing means downstream of the acousto-optic tunable filter for combining the components of different polarization while spatially separating affected and unaffected wavelengths of the components to different light outlets.