Kristina Uhlendorf

Microscope Illumination Systems for 157 nm

The image quality of an inspection microscope depends strongly on the performance of the illumination system. Especially in the case of laser-based illumination it is necessary to transform the original beam profile into a homogeneous light spot with a flat top field distribution. Simultaneously, speckles caused by the coherence of the laser have to be reduced. Here we discuss different ways to homogenize the multi mode beam profile of a pulsed compact 157 nm excimer laser. A variety of setups, combining dynamic acting diffusers, microlens arrays and primary lenses were realized and characterized in several geometrical arrangements. The homogenizers were evaluated and characterized especially with respect to the statistical behavior on the integrated pulse number.

Developments and design of optical systems for microscopes at Carl Zeiss

Nowadays optical design for microscopes encloses besides the classical approach many new ideas like implementation of new optical elements, the consideration of physical effects or digital image processing. All these things play an important role during the development of microscopes and microscopic components at Carl Zeiss. In this paper we present examples of the classical approach starting with the imaging theory of Ernst Abbe as well as the non-classical approach ranging from microscopic objectives with diffractive optical elements over the implementation of the propagation theory of short-time laser pulses in optical design software to digital image restoration and phase measurement.