Citizen Holdings Company, Ltd.

Citizen Watch Company, Ltd.

Japan Science and Technology Agency

Makoto Kurihara

Nobuyuki Hashimoto

Kenji Matsumoto

Masafumi Yokoyama

Ayano Tanabe

Hiroyuki Yokoyama

Yuichi Kozawa

Tomomi Nemoto

Terumasa Hibi

Yuka Saito

Shunichi Sato

A light modulating deviceincludes: a selective diffraction device (') which generates diffracted light beams of a plurality of orders by diffracting illumination light into one of a plurality of directions, the illumination light being linearly polarized light having a polarization plane oriented in a first polarization direction, and which causes a phase difference between the diffracted light beams of the plurality of orders; and a polarization plane rotating devicewhich rotates the polarization plane of the diffracted light beam of each order so as to be oriented in a direction perpendicular to a direction radiating from an optical axis.

Light modulating device

An aberration correction device () corrects wave front aberration arising in an optical system that includes an object lens () disposed in an optical path for light beams output by a coherent light source (). The aberration correction device () has a symmetrical aberration correction element () that corrects symmetrical aberrations, which are the wave front aberrations that are symmetrical with respect to the optical axis among the wave front aberrations generated in the optical path, and an asymmetrical aberration correction element () that corrects asymmetrical aberrations, which are wave front aberrations that are asymmetrical with respect to the optical axis, generated in light beams incident obliquely on the object lens ().

Aberration correction device and laser microscope

A phase modulation device corrects wave front aberrations generated by an optical system including an objective lens disposed on an optical path of a light flux. The phase modulation device includes a phase modulation element which includes a plurality of electrodes, and modulates the phase of the light flux in accordance with a voltage applied to each electrode, and a control circuit which controls the voltage to be applied to each electrode. The control circuit controls the voltage to be applied to each electrode in such a manner that the light flux is imparted with a phase modulation amount in accordance with a phase modulation profile having a polarity opposite to the polarity of a phase distribution to be determined according to a relational equation representing a relationship between a numerical aperture of the objective lens and a ratio between third-order spherical aberration and fifth-order spherical aberration.

Phase modulation device and laser microscope

A polarization conversion element includes a phase reversal element and a polarization plane rotation element including a liquid crystal layer. The liquid crystal layer has a plurality of regions disposed along circumferential direction with the intersection point of the polarization plane rotation element and the optical axis as the center with alignment directions different from each other. When electric voltage in accordance with the wavelength of linear polarization incident on the polarization plane rotation element is applied, each region rotates the polarization plane of the polarization component transmitted by each region, and thereby converts linear polarization to radial polarization. The phase reversal element reverses, among the first and the second annular portions alternately disposed along the radial direction with the optical axis as the center, the phase of light incident on the first annular portion relative to the phase of light incident on the second annular portion.

Polarization conversion element

The microscope apparatus includes a light source which outputs linear polarization having a first wavelength, a polarization conversion element which includes a liquid crystal layer, and by causing linear polarization to pass the liquid crystal layer, converts linear polarization to radial polarization, an objective lens which focuses the radial polarization onto an object surface, a condenser lens which collimates the light reflected from the object surface, a light receiving element which receives light collimated by the condenser lens and outputs signal in accordance with the intensity of light, and a controller which applies electric voltage in accordance with the first wavelength to the liquid crystal layer of the polarization conversion element. The polarization conversion element is disposed in the pupil plane of the objective lens on the light source side.

Microscope apparatus, optical pickup apparatus and light irradiation apparatus

A light modulator element includes a liquid crystal element which has a liquid crystal layer containing liquid crystal molecules aligned along a first direction, and two transparent electrodes disposed in opposition to each other with the liquid crystal layer sandwiched therebetween, and which controls the phase of linear polarization light and passing through said liquid crystal layer by applying an electric voltage between said two transparent electrodes; a polarizer plate which is disposed between a light source and said liquid crystal element and which has the transmission axis along the first direction or along a direction orthogonal to said first direction; and a rotation mechanism which supports the liquid crystal element and the polarizer plate and which rotates the liquid crystal element and the polarizer plate integrally in one unit with the optical axis of the liquid crystal element as the rotation axis.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Makoto Kurihara