CHROMATIC CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY WITH MICROLENSES

The main feature of the well-known technique of confocal scanning micr oscopy is that of optical sectioning. This capability allows three-dim ensional reconstruction of the topometry of technical surfaces, built up from a series of hundreds of depth discriminated height sections. B ased on this fundamental principle, several confocal microscopes have been realized with high axial and lateral resolutions. For a drastical ly enlarged field and a significant reduction in measuring time, a chr omatic confocal method using microlenses has been developed. When meas uring an object the topography can be determined by 4 chromatic coded images and, in contrast to conventional techniques, there is no need f or mechanical height stepping in the axial direction. For this reason real-time measuring has become possible. First results with this set-u p are presented.