The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 25, 1999
Filed:
Oct. 07, 1997
David J Aziz, Tucson, AZ (US);
Veeco Corporation, Tucson, AZ (US);
Abstract
A low-magnification interference microscope objective is rendered parfocal with a high-magnification objective by folding the light beam to the side of the optical axis of the objective, thereby maintaining the original optical path length while shortening the mechanical length of the objective. The beam is reflected by a mirror, causing it to travel some distance out to the side, and then it is reflected back toward the beamsplitter by an additional pair of mirrors. After a final reflection within the beamsplitter, the resulting beam is coaxial with the original optical axis, while the physical length of the objective has been substantially reduced. This approach makes it possible to obtain a desired distance from the mounting shoulder of the objective to the focal point.