We present a fluorescence/luminescence imaging system for use in high-throughput screening of samples in microplates. High efficiency imaging of microplates is an optical challenge usually involving performance compromises. Conventional microplate imagers use large refractive systems. These systems typically have many large lenses and suffer from their disadvantages such as low light transmission efficiency, field shading (low uniformity), and weight. Our optical design enables simultaneous detection of light from all of the samples in a microplate with high collection efficiency, high transmission efficiency, low chromatic aberration, high uniformity, and sub-well (submillimeter) resolution all in a relatively small package. Our optical system includes a primary mirror and an on-axis secondary mirror with a central aperture (a reverse-conjugate Schwarzchild arrangement) along with a small set of refractive field correctors. The field correctors compensate for the aberrations induced by the wide field (108×72 mm) without resorting to aspheric mirrors. The prototype of this design met our goals of high transmission, high uniformity and low crosstalk.
A lens system for shaping a laser beam profile has been designed, built, and tested. It consists of two plano-aspherical lenses which convert a Gaussian input beam into a uniform irradiance output beam. The optical design is based on solving differential equations expressing conservation of energy and constant optical path length condition as the beam passes through the system. Experimental results for the irradiance profile and wavefront shape of the output beam are presented and discussed. When this beam shaping system is used with light of different wavelengths than the design value, experimental results show that a small change in lens spacing enables the beam shaping optics to operate efficiently. An experimental tolerance analysis of this beam shaping system shows that it is stable with respect to assembly errors of tilt and misalignment of components.
Binary optical generated interference patterns are used to produce close-packed microchannel azo dye images within optical resins for use as new types of optical elements. These optical elements may be used to control the angular components of optical wavefront dynamics in new ways. Low density azo dye micro-honeycomb images with high aspect ratios resulting in extended ray pathways filter out skew rays and allow transmission of meridional rays while suppressing diffractive effects. Whereas an aperture stop may be used in a conventional optical system to block the wider angle light rays which are a prime source of optical system aberrations, these directional light filters achieve a similar effect at any integral point across the transverse of the wavefront. The projector system also affords a production method of writing highly corrected peripheral-field as well as center-field micro-mesh patterns in photoresist on non-planar surfaces such as domes.
The optical performance of a holographic projection system is analyzed by a physical optics simulation code. This holographic projector is used to produce micro-optical devices which are generated by a photolytic process involving exposure and development. These devices can be used as a new generation of directional light filters and monolithic micro-channel optical arrays. This projection system consists of a laser, a beam expander, a beam reshaping system which reshapes the Gaussian beam profile of the laser into a uniform beam profile, a holographic diffraction grating which is used to produce multiple beams, and an interferometric optical system behind the grating. This interferometric optical system creates broadly diverging cones of light which mutually overlap creating a three-dimensional standing wave interference pattern. A diazo-acid-coupler coated substrate can be placed within the overlapping cones of light so that an interference pattern may be recorded within the substrate coating to produce micro-optical devices or directional light filters.
Design and preliminary results of a prototype laser projection system are presented. This system consists of a HeCd laser, an expansion system, a laser beam profile reshaping system, and a holographic diffraction grating which divides the amplitude of a laser into four coherent beams. These four beams are then recombined together to generate an interferometric pattern on a photosensitive substrate. In this paper, the particular significance of the reshaper with respective enhancement of system performance will be addressed. Since most laser beam irradiance profiles do not have a uniform distribution of light intensity across its diameter, the interference pattern will have the maximum intensity at the center and will trail off at the edges if a Gaussian beam profile is utilized. In order to correct this problem, a two plano- aspherical lens system has been designed and fabricated. This system converts the Gaussian beam into a uniform profile beam without truncating the laser beam. Experimental results will be given and discussed.
For many illumination applications, it is desirable for a laser beam to have a uniform irradiance distribution across its diameter. Refractive and reflective systems for reshaping a laser beam profile have been proposed and discussed for many years. One of the refractive systems consisting of two plano-aspherical lenses operates with high efficiency. Recently, a prototype of this two aspherical lens reshaping system has been made from CaF2. The performance of the prototype is presented in this paper. The optical design and analysis of this system also are discussed.
During the past several years, a number of investigators have addressed the design, analysis, fabrication, and testing of spherical Schwarzschild microscopes for soft-x-ray applications using multilayer coatings. Some of these systems have demonstrated diffraction limited resolution for small numerical apertures. Rigorously aplanatic, two-aspherical mirror Head microscopes can provide near diffraction limited resolution for very large numerical apertures. This paper summarizes the relationships between the numerical aperture, mirror radii and diameters, magnifications, and total system length for Schwarzschild microscope configurations. Also, an analysis of the characteristics of the Head-Schwarzschild surfaces is reported. The numerical surface data predicted by the Head equations have been fit by a variety of functions and analyzed by conventional optical design codes. Efforts have been made to determine whether current optical substrate and multilayer coating technologies will permit construction of a very fast Head microscope which can provide resolution approaching that of the wavelength of the incident radiation.
The spherical Schwarzschild microscope for soft X-ray applications in microscopy and projection lithography consists of two concentric spherical mirrors configured such that the third-order spherical aberration and coma are zero. Since multilayers are used on the mirror substrates for X-ray applications, it is desirable to have only two reflecting surfaces in a microscope. To reduce microscope aberrations and increase the field of view, generalized mirror surface profiles are here considered. Based on incoherent and sine wave modulation transfer function calculations, the object plane resolution of a microscope has been analyzed as a function of the object height and numerical aperture (NA) of the primary for several spherical Schwarzschild, conic, and aspherical Head reflecting two-mirror microscope configurations. The Head microscope with a NA of 0.4 achieves diffraction limited performance for objects with a diameter of 40 microns. Thus, it seems possible to record images with a feature size less than 100 A with a 40x microscope when using 40 A radiation.
Considerable effort has been devoted recently to the design, analysis, fabrication, and testing of spherical Schwarzschild microscopes for soft x-ray applications in microscopy and projection lithography. The spherical Schwarzschild microscope consists of two concentric spherical mirrors configured such that the third-order spherical aberration and coma are zero. Because multilayers are used on the mirror substrates for soft x-ray applications, it is desirable to have a small number of reflecting surfaces in the microscope. In order to reduce the microscope aberrations and increase the field of view, generalized mirror surface profiles have been considered in this study for a two-mirror microscope. Based on incoherent, sine wave modulation transfer function (MTF) calculations, the object plane resolution of a 20x microscope has been analyzed as a function of the object height and numerical aperture (NA) of the primary for several spherical Schwarzschild, conic, and aspherical reflecting two-mirror microscope configurations. The ultimate resolution of an aspherical, two-mirror microscope appears to be about 200 Å when using 100-Å radiation. Better resolution can be achieved when shorter wavelength radiation is used.
Considerable effort has been devoted recently to the design, analysis, fabrication, and
testing of spherical Schwarzschild microscopes for soft x-ray applications in microscopy and
projection lithography. The spherical Schwarzschild microscope consist of two concentric
spherical mirrors configured such that third order spherical aberration and coma are zero. Since
multilayers are used on the mirror substrates for x-ray applications, it is desirable to have only
two reflecting surfaces in a microscope. In order to reduce microscope aberrations and increase
the field of view, generalized mirror surface profiles have been considered in this study. Based on
incoherent, sine wave modulation transfer function (MTF) calculations, the object plane
resolution of a microscope has been analyzed as a function of the object height and numerical
aperture (NA) of the primary for several spherical Schwarzschild, conic, and aspherical reflecting
two-mirror microscope configurations. The ultimate resolution of an aspherical two-mirror
microscope appears to be about 200 A when using 100 A radiation. Better resolution can be
produced when shorter wavelength radiation is used.
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