| 主权项 |
1. A microscope comprising:
a light source for generating a light beam having a wavelength, X; beam-forming optics, including an optical element positioned in a path of the light beam and configured for generating an annular ring of light, the beam-forming optics being configured for generating from the light beam an excitation beam having a central lobe and at least one side lobe and also configured to direct the excitation beam to a position within a sample, wherein the beam-forming optics include an excitation objective having an axis oriented in a first direction, and wherein a transverse profile of the excitation beam in the sample is intermediate between a profile of a lowest order Bessel function and the Gaussian function; imaging optics configured for receiving light from a position within the sample that is illuminated by the excitation beam and for imaging the received light on a detector, the imaging optics including a detection objective having an axis oriented in a second direction that is non-parallel to the first direction; and a detector configured for detecting light received by the imaging optics. |
