Options
2009
Conference Paper
Titel
Scanning photon microscope based on a MEMS 2D scanner mirror
Abstract
Scanning photon microscopes (SPM), also known as laser scanning microscopes (LSM), are provided by several commercial manufacturers, e.g. [1-4]. Technically they illuminate a sample with light from a laser light source which is deflected in two directions. The reflected light is detected through a photo sensitive detector. From the position of the laser spot and the detector signal the image of the sample is calculated. Applying a second detector behind an aperture stop, bright and dark field images of the sample can be taken. Furthermore processes like fluorescence or RAMAN can be initiated. If the sample or a kind of marker added to the sample creates a fluorescence or RAMAN signal from a selected wavelength, the signal can be separated through an additional filter in front of the detector or a spectrometer respectively. Doing this, interesting applications in the field of non destructive testing arise. State of the art systems offer an optical resolution of 0.2...0.5 µm but they are bulky and expensive. In our new approach we aim at a lower resolution of 5 ... 10 µm applying a small system size and less effort for installation and usage. This aim can be reached using a 2d MEMS scanner mirror for the laser light deflection. The test setup realized has a size of 20cm x 10cm x 5cm. A red semiconductor laser with 30mW has been used for evaluation. An image area of 10mm x 10mm has been selected. 1000×1000 pixels were taken in accordance with 10µm optical resolution. First images have been captured using MEMS devices like scanner mirrors as objects.