Patent ID: 7911670

Claim:
A scanning imaging device for scanning a surface of a sample comprising: optical means for determining a focal point; a first device for displacing the focal point in a rapid scanning movement in a direction X approximately parallel to the surface of the sample, in order to describe at least one scanning line along the X direction at the surface of the sample; a movable support on which the sample is fixed; and a second device for displacing said movable support in a direction Y, approximately parallel to the surface of the sample and approximately perpendicular to the rapid scanning direction X; wherein the movable support rests on at least one guiding column in the Y direction that leaves said movable support free to move in a Z direction approximately perpendicular to a plane defined by the X and Y directions, the second device comprising: at least one first actuator, the action of which displaces the movable support in relation to the optical means in the Z direction such that the scanning line along the X direction is shifted approximately uniformly in the Z direction; and at least one second actuator, the action of which modifies an inclination of the movable support in such a way that the scanning line along the X direction is essentially inclined in a plane defined by the X and Z directions by rotation about a rotation axis a position of which varies depending on a position of the movable support along the Y direction and/or depending on a position determined by the first actuator of the movable support in the Z direction.