Laser beam selectors

摘要

Various beam selectors for selectively placing one of at least two beams of light along the same output path are disclosed. In one aspect, a beam selector receives at least two substantially parallel beams of light. The beam selector includes a plate with an aperture so that when one of the at least two beams is selected for transmission, the beam selector directs only the selected beam along an output path through the aperture. The plate can also serve to block transmission of unselected beams. The output path through the aperture is the same for each of the at least two beams when each beam is selected. Beam selectors can be incorporated into fluorescence microscopy instruments to selectively place particular excitation beams along the same path through the microscope objective lens and into a specimen to excite fluorescence of fluorescent probes attached to a particular component of the specimen.

主权项

1. A beam selector for selecting one of at least two beams of light comprising:
a scanning mirror arranged to receive at least two beams of light; two stationary mirrors; and a plate with an aperture, wherein the scanning mirror is arranged to be rotated into at least two positions, wherein each of the at least two positions respectively selects a different one of the beams of light, wherein the selected beam of light in each of the at least two positions undergoes a first reflection off of the scanning mirror, one reflection off of each of the stationary mirrors, and a second reflection off of the scanning mirror to place the selected beam of light on a path through the aperture, and wherein the scanning mirror, two stationary mirrors, and plate are arranged so that a first of the stationary mirrors is angled toward a region between the scanning mirror and a second of the stationary mirrors, and the reflective surface of the second stationary mirror is angled toward a region between the scanning mirror and the first stationary mirror, and wherein each position of the at least two positions of the scanning mirror results in the selected beam to undergo a total of four reflections.