Direct-view-type confocal point optical system

摘要

A direct-view-type confocal point optical system having a design wherein noise in the return light from an object being viewed is suppressed by ensuring that light reflected from various optical component surfaces is reflected away from the image light returned from the object being viewed. This is accomplished by insuring that any planar transmission or reflecting surfaces are non-normal to the scanning light, and by folding the light path at least 90 degrees, thereby enabling a longer optical path length than the actual distance between a point source of light source and an object being viewed so that the optical signal "noise" in the direct-view, confocal point optical system image is minimized.