FOCUS MAINTAINING DEVICE AND FOCUS DETECTING APPARATUS

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microscope focus maintaining device that stably maintains the focus of a microscope in a long-time lapse observation.;SOLUTION: The microscope includes an objective lens 105; and a CCD 136 for observing a cell 103 via the objective lens 105. The microscope focus maintaining device includes: a sensor head 137 for carrying out focus detection by means of a laser beam; and a dichroic mirror 134 for optically connecting the sensor head 137 and the objective lens 105. In this case, when carrying out focus detection using a laser beam reflected from the surface of a boundary between a cover glass or slide glass and a cell or culture media, the microscope focus maintaining device can alter the luminous flux diameter of the laser beam to a luminous flux diameter corresponding to NA smaller than the refractive index of the cell or culture media.;COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT