Title:
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DARK FIELD INTERFEROMETRIC CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO2004074881
Kind Code:
A3
Abstract:
A differential interferometric confocal microscope including: a source-side pinhole array; a detector-side pinhole array; and an interferometer that images the array of pinholes of the source-side pinhole array onto a first array of spots located in front of an object plane located near where the object is positioned (164) and onto a second array of spots behind the object plane (166), wherein the first and second arrays of spots are displaced relative to each other in a direction that is normal to the object plane, the interferometer also (1) imaging the first arrays of spots onto a first image plane that is behind the detector-side pinhole array (184), (2) imaging the first array of spots onto a plane defined by the detector-side pinhole array, (3) imaging the second array of spots onto a second image plane that is in front of the detector-side pinhole array (186), and (4) imaging the second array of spots onto the plane defined by the detector-side pinhole array, wherein each spot of the imaged first array of spots in the first image plane is aligned with a corresponding different spot of the imaged second array of spots in the second image plane and a corresponding different pinhole of the detector-side pinhole array, and wherein each spot of the image first array of spots in the plane defined by the detector-side array coincides with a corresponding different spot of the imaged second array of spots in the plane defined by the detector-side array and coincides with a corresponding different pinhole of the detector-side pinhole array.
Inventors:
HILL HENRY ALLEN (US)
Application Number:
PCT/US2004/004946
Publication Date:
May 12, 2005
Filing Date:
February 19, 2004
Export Citation:
Assignee:
ZETETIC INST (US)
HILL HENRY ALLEN (US)
HILL HENRY ALLEN (US)
International Classes:
G01B9/04; G02B17/08; G02B21/00; G02B27/10; (IPC1-7): G01B9/02
Foreign References:
| US20040201854A1 | 2004-10-14 | |||
| US5327223A | 1994-07-05 | |||
| US5828455A | 1998-10-27 | |||
| US6552805B2 | 2003-04-22 | |||
| US6445453B1 | 2002-09-03 |
Other References:
See also references of EP 1595107A4
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