An adaptive microscope with axial chromatic encoding is designed and developed, namely the AdaScope. With the ability to confocally address any locations within the measurement volume, the AdaScope provides the hardware foundation for a cascade measurement strategy to be developed, dramatically accelerating the speed of 3D confocal microscopy.

Diffractive lens arrays are proposed in this work for application in reflected-light confocal microscopes. They have overcome the limitations between fields of view and resolution of traditional objectives. Experiments of multi-spot confocal imaging in surface metrology and fluorescence microscopy have been demonstrated based on the proposed concepts, which have shown capabilities of high-resolution measurement over a large area.

This book discusses the various principles in confocal scanning microscopy which has become a useful tool in many practical fields including biological studies and industrial inspection. The methodology presented in this book is unique and is based on the concept of the three-dimensional transfer functions which have been developed by the author and his colleagues over the last five years. With the 3-D transfer functions, resolving power in 3-D confocal imaging can be defined in a unified way, different optical arrangements can be compared with an insight into their inter-relationship, and images of thick objects can be modeled in terms of the Fourier transform which makes the analysis easy. The aim of this book is to provide a systematic introduction to the concept of the 3-D transfer functions in various confocal microscopes, to describe the methods for the derivation of different 3-D transfer functions, and to explain the principles of 3-D confocal imaging in terms of these functions.

In 1987 the Electron Microscopy Society of America (EMSA) going to drive important scientific discoveries across wide areas under the leadership of J. P. Revel (Cal Tech) initiated a major of physiology, cellular biology and neurobiology. They had been program to present a discussion of recent advances in light looking for a forum in which they could advance the state of microscopy as part of the annual meeting. The result was three the art of confocal microscopy, alert manufacturers to the lim special LM sessions at the Milwaukee meeting in August 1988: itations of current instruments, and catalyze progress toward The LM Forum, organized by me, and Symposia on Confocal new directions in confocal instrument development. LM, organized by G. Schatten (Madison), and on Integrated These goals were so close to those of the EMSA project that Acoustic/LM/EM organized by C. Rieder (Albany). In addition, the two groups decided to join forces with EMSA to provide there was an optical micro-analysis session emphasizing Raman the organization and the venue for a Confocal Workshop and techniques, organized by the Microbeam Analysis Society, for NSF to provide the financial support for the speakers expenses a total of 40 invited and 30 contributed papers on optical tech and for the publication of extended abstracts.