阅读说明：本技术 光源装置以及全息观察装置 (Light source device and holographic observation device ) 是由 近藤泰志 市野塚义行 于 2020-02-07 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种光源装置以及全息观察装置。本发明提供一种能够容易地进行合波且光的利用效率高的小型的光源装置。光源装置与光纤连接,以从光纤射出光,所述光源装置具备：多个激光光源,所述多个激光光源分别射出波长不同的光；电流源,其向各激光光源供给叠加有交流成分的驱动电流；光源控制部,其控制电流源,来选择性地切换多个激光光源；多个光学系统,所述多个光学系统配置在各激光光源的光路中,使来自各激光光源的光朝向光纤的入射端反射,并且使被入射端反射的返回光朝向各激光光源反射；以及返回光调整部,其调整返回光的光量,以使从光纤射出的光的光谱连续地扩展。(A light source device and a holographic observation device. The invention provides a small light source device which can easily perform wave combination and has high light utilization efficiency. A light source device is connected to an optical fiber to emit light from the optical fiber, and the light source device includes: a plurality of laser light sources that emit light having different wavelengths, respectively; a current source that supplies a drive current on which an alternating current component is superimposed to each laser light source; a light source control unit that controls the current source to selectively switch the plurality of laser light sources; a plurality of optical systems arranged in an optical path of each of the laser light sources, reflecting light from each of the laser light sources toward an incident end of the optical fiber, and reflecting return light reflected by the incident end toward each of the laser light sources; and a return light adjustment unit that adjusts the light quantity of the return light so that the spectrum of the light emitted from the optical fiber is continuously expanded.)

1. A light source device connected to an optical fiber to emit light from the optical fiber, the light source device comprising:

a plurality of laser light sources that emit light having different wavelengths, respectively;

a current source that supplies a drive current on which an alternating current component is superimposed to each of the plurality of laser light sources;

a light source control unit that controls the current source to selectively switch the plurality of laser light sources;

a plurality of optical systems arranged in optical paths of the respective laser light sources, reflecting light from the respective laser light sources toward an incident end of the optical fiber, and reflecting return light reflected by the incident end toward the respective laser light sources; and

and a return light adjusting unit that adjusts the light amount of the return light so that the spectrum of the light emitted from the optical fiber is continuously expanded.

2. The light source device according to claim 1,

each of the plurality of optical systems is arranged along the optical axis of the optical fiber such that the optical path center of light from the optical system toward the incident end of the optical fiber substantially coincides with the optical axis of the optical fiber.

3. The light source device according to claim 1 or 2,

the return light adjustment unit adjusts the light quantity of the return light by changing the angle of the return light with respect to the optical axis of each laser light source.

4. The light source device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the return light adjustment unit adjusts the light quantity of the return light by changing an angle of an optical axis of each of the laser light sources with respect to each of the plurality of optical systems.

5. The light source device according to claim 1 or 2,

the return light adjustment unit includes a plurality of beam splitters, each of which has a wavelength corresponding to a wavelength of the laser light source and a transmittance set based on a light amount of the return light, and the beam splitter corresponding to the laser light source is disposed between the optical elements and the incident end of the optical fiber based on the laser light source selected by the light source control unit.

6. The light source device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

further comprising a plurality of condensing lenses which are respectively arranged between the laser light sources and the optical elements and condense light from the laser light sources,

the return light adjustment unit adjusts the light amount of the return light by changing an angle of each of the plurality of condensing lenses with respect to an optical axis of each of the laser light sources.

7. The light source device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,

each of the plurality of optical systems is a reflection-type band-pass filter having a planar reflection surface, and configured to reflect light from the laser light source corresponding to each optical system and transmit light from another laser light source.

8. The light source device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,

each of the plurality of optical systems is a reflective band-pass filter having an elliptical or parabolic reflective surface, and configured to reflect light from the laser light source corresponding to the plurality of optical systems and transmit light from another laser light source.

9. The light source device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,

the frequency of the alternating current component is 50 kHz-300 kHz.

10. The light source device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,

the incident end of the optical fiber is a tapered surface inclined at 3 DEG to 7 DEG with respect to the optical axis of the optical fiber.

11. The light source device according to any one of claims 1 to 10,

each of the plurality of optical systems includes a first optical element and a second optical element, the first optical element being disposed in an optical path of each of the laser light sources and reflecting light from each of the laser light sources toward an incident end of the optical fiber, and the second optical element reflecting return light reflected by the incident end of the optical fiber toward each of the laser light sources.

12. A holographic observation device is characterized by comprising:

the light source device according to any one of claims 1 to 11;

an illumination optical system that transmits or reflects light emitted from the optical fiber through or from an observation target object and causes interference between light transmitted or reflected at different positions of the observation target object; and

and an image sensor that acquires an interference image of light transmitted through or reflected by the observation target object.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a light source device used in a device for observing an object using holography (holography) or the like, and a holographic observation device provided with the light source device.

Background

Conventionally, a hologram observation device has been provided in practical use as a device for observing iPS cells or other cells. In such a hologram observation device, a light beam (coherent light beam) having the same phase is divided into two beams, one of the two beams is irradiated onto a target object to be transmitted through or reflected by the target object, and the other beam is allowed to remain as it is, so that the two beams interfere with each other on an image forming surface, thereby obtaining a hologram image (hologram). The obtained hologram includes information such as the three-dimensional shape and optical composition of the target object, and therefore, the information is extracted by performing various calculations on the information.

When observing cells while keeping them alive using such a holographic observation device, the cells are floated in a culture medium in a container or placed on a glass plate, but since the container, the glass plate, or the like is present in addition to the cells as the object of observation on the optical path, the phase shift of the coherent light beam occurs not only by the object of observation but also by the container, the glass plate, or the like. Further, when a phase shift occurs due to the container, the glass plate, or the like, interference due to the phase shift occurring due to the container, the glass plate, or the like affects (that is, deteriorates image quality of a hologram of) the observation target object (cell) on an interference image due to the phase shift occurring due to the observation target object (cell).

Therefore, the following technique is proposed: a light beam having a short interference distance is used so that the influence of a phase shift due to an object other than an observation target object (non-observation target object) is eliminated as much as possible, and only an interference image due to a phase shift due to the observation target object is detected (patent document 1).

Patent document 1 describes the following structure: in a hologram observation device including a semiconductor laser light source, a part of light emitted from the semiconductor laser light source is reflected by an end surface of a ferrule on which the light is incident and returned to the semiconductor laser light source (that is, return light is formed), and the semiconductor laser light source is driven by a current on which an ac component is superimposed, whereby a wide-spectrum light beam (that is, a light beam with low coherence) with a short interference distance is obtained. In addition, the following structure is described: in order to obtain an image of an observation target object with high resolution, four kinds of holographic images are acquired using semiconductor laser light sources of four different wavelengths to reconstruct the image of the observation target object.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

According to the hologram observation device of patent document 1, a wide-spectrum light beam (i.e., a light beam with low coherence) can be obtained using a general-purpose semiconductor laser light source, a hologram image with little deterioration can be obtained, and an image of an observation target object with high resolution can be obtained. However, in the case of using semiconductor laser light sources of four different wavelengths, when it is necessary to make the emission positions of the light of the respective wavelengths physically the same, in the configuration of patent document 1, since the light from the semiconductor laser light sources is condensed on the ferrule and guided by the optical fiber, a light source that combines the light of the respective wavelengths guided by the respective optical fibers by an optical fiber coupler or the like to form the same optical axis is necessary. In addition, in the structure in which the combining is performed by using the optical fiber coupler or the like, since the attenuation ratio of light is large, a semiconductor laser light source having high intensity is required, or a separate optical system is required to be configured and adjusted for each wavelength, there is a problem that not only the device structure becomes complicated, but also miniaturization cannot be achieved. Further, since the optical fiber coupler requires skill in manufacturing, there are problems such as a long manufacturing delivery time and high cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a small-sized light source device that can easily multiplex light without using a conventional optical fiber coupler and has high light use efficiency, and to provide a hologram observation device including such a light source device.

Means for solving the problems

In order to achieve the above object, a light source device according to the present invention is connected to an optical fiber to emit light from the optical fiber, the light source device including: a plurality of laser light sources that emit light having different wavelengths, respectively; a current source that supplies a drive current on which an alternating current component is superimposed to each laser light source; a light source control unit that controls the current source to selectively switch the plurality of laser light sources; a plurality of optical systems arranged in an optical path of each of the laser light sources, reflecting light from each of the laser light sources toward an incident end of the optical fiber, and reflecting return light reflected by the incident end toward each of the laser light sources; and a return light adjustment unit that adjusts the light quantity of the return light so that the spectrum of the light emitted from the optical fiber is continuously expanded.

With this configuration, light from the plurality of laser light sources is multiplexed by the plurality of optical systems, and a conventional optical fiber coupler is not required, so that a small and inexpensive light source device with high light utilization efficiency is realized. Further, since the return light adjustment unit is provided, the light emitted from the optical fiber can be easily adjusted to a wide-spectrum light beam having a short interference-enabling distance (i.e., a light beam having low coherence).

Further, each optical system may be disposed along the optical axis of the optical fiber such that the optical path center of light from each optical system toward the incident end of the optical fiber substantially coincides with the optical axis of the optical fiber.

The return light adjustment unit may have the following configuration: the light quantity of the return light is adjusted by changing the angle of the return light with respect to the optical axis of each laser light source.

The return light adjustment unit may have the following configuration: the light quantity of the return light is adjusted by changing the angle of the optical axis of each laser light source with respect to each optical system.

The return light adjustment unit may have the following configuration: the optical fiber has a plurality of beam splitters, each of which has a wavelength corresponding to a wavelength of each of the laser light sources and a transmittance set based on a light amount of the return light, and the beam splitter corresponding to the laser light source is arranged between the optical elements and an incident end of the optical fiber based on the laser light source selected by the light source control unit.

The optical pickup apparatus may further include a plurality of condensing lenses which are respectively disposed between the laser light sources and the optical elements and condense light from the laser light sources, and the return light adjusting unit may adjust the light amount of the return light by changing an angle of each condensing lens with respect to an optical axis of each laser light source.

Each optical system may be configured by a reflection-type band pass filter having a planar reflection surface, and reflecting light from the laser light source corresponding to each optical system and transmitting light from the other laser light source.

Each optical system may be configured by a reflective band-pass filter having an elliptical or parabolic reflective surface, and reflecting light from the laser light source corresponding to each optical system and transmitting light from the other laser light source.

The frequency of the alternating current component can be set to 50kHz to 300 kHz.

The incident end of the optical fiber can be formed as a tapered surface inclined at 3 ° to 7 ° with respect to the optical axis of the optical fiber.

Each optical system may be configured to include a first optical element that is disposed in an optical path of each laser light source and reflects light from each laser light source toward an incident end of the optical fiber, and a second optical element that reflects return light reflected by the incident end of the optical fiber toward each laser light source.

From another viewpoint, a hologram observation device according to the present invention includes: the light source device according to any one of the above; an illumination optical system that transmits or reflects light emitted from the optical fiber through or from an observation target object and causes interference between the light transmitted or reflected at different positions of the observation target object; and an image sensor that acquires an interference image of light transmitted through or reflected by the observation target object.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

As described above, according to the present invention, a small-sized light source device can be realized which can easily combine light without using a conventional optical fiber coupler and which has high light use efficiency. Further, a hologram observation device including such a light source device can be realized.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a hologram observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a light source unit of a holographic observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the configuration of a light source unit of a holographic observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a graph illustrating an emission spectrum of light emitted from the semiconductor laser diode of the hologram observation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a first modification of the light source unit of the holographic observation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a second modification of the light source unit of the holographic observation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the reference numerals

1: a holographic viewing device; 2: a light source unit; 3: culturing the plate; 4: an image sensor; 5: a control unit; 6: an input section; 7: a display unit; 25: a direct current signal generating unit; 26: an alternating current signal generating section; 27: an illumination timing signal generation unit; 50: a storage unit; 51: a light source control unit; 52: an arithmetic processing unit; 200: a housing; 201. 202, 203, 204: a drive current supply unit; 211. 212, 213, 214: a direct current voltage generating unit; 221. 222, 223, 224: an alternating voltage generating unit; 231. 232, 233, 234: a voltage/current conversion section; 240. 240a, 240 b: a light source assembly; 241. 242, 243, 244: a semiconductor laser diode; 251. 252, 253, 254: a condenser lens; 261. 262, 263, 264: a mirror; 261a, 262a, 263a, 264 a: a concave mirror; 270: an optical fiber; 271: an incident end face; 272: an exit end face; 280: a beam splitter assembly; 281. 282, 283, 284: spectroscope

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will not be repeated.

(construction of holographic viewing device)

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a hologram observation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the holographic observation device 1 of the present embodiment is a so-called coaxial type holographic observation device, and is a device for acquiring an observation image of cells such as iPS cells and ES cells cultured on a culture plate. The holographic observation device 1 is configured to include a light source unit 2, an image sensor 4, and a control unit 5, and to irradiate the cells on the culture plate 3 with diffused light having a slight angle (about 10 degrees) emitted from the light source unit 2. The light transmitted through the cells and the culture plate 3 interferes with the light transmitted through the adjacent position of the cells on the culture plate 3 and reaches the image sensor 4, and the holographic data is obtained by the image sensor 4. Further, an irradiation optical system may be disposed between the light source unit 2 and the culture plate 3 so that the light emitted from the light source unit 2 has a spot size for irradiating the entire cell. The light emitted from the light source unit 2 of the present embodiment is light having lower coherence than high-coherence light such as semiconductor laser light, and hereinafter, is also referred to as pseudo-coherent light or pseudo-coherent light flux in the present specification.

The control unit 5 includes a storage unit 50, a light source control unit 51 that controls the operation of the light source unit 2, and an arithmetic processing unit 52. The arithmetic processing unit 52 obtains phase information by numerical arithmetic operation from the hologram data (two-dimensional intensity distribution data of the pseudo coherent light beam formed on the detection surface of the image sensor 4) acquired by the image sensor 4, and creates an observation image of the cell. The storage unit 50 stores, in advance, pseudo-coherent light beam characteristic information (details will be described later) that is associated with the relationship between the magnitude of the current supplied to the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 (fig. 2) of the light source unit 2 and the intensity of the pseudo-coherent light beam, and the relationship between the amplitude and frequency of the ac signal and the distance that the pseudo-coherent light beam can interfere with each other. The input unit 6 and the display unit 7 are connected to the control unit 5, and the observation image created by the arithmetic processing unit 52 is displayed on the display unit 7.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the light source unit 2 of the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 2, the light source unit 2 includes a light source unit 240 and driving current supply units 201 to 204 (current sources), wherein the light source unit 240 includes four semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 (laser light sources) that emit light having different wavelengths from each other, and the driving current supply units 201 to 204 supply driving currents to the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244. The drive current supply units 201 to 204 each include: DC voltage generation units 211-214 that generate DC voltages; alternating voltage generation units 221 to 224 that generate an alternating voltage and superimpose the alternating voltage on the direct voltage; and voltage/current conversion sections 231 to 234. The light source unit 2 further includes: a DC signal generation unit (25) for generating DC signals to be transmitted to the DC voltage generation units (211-214); an AC signal generating unit 26 that generates AC signals to be supplied to the AC voltage generating units 221 to 224; and an illumination timing signal generation unit 27 (light source control unit) that generates timing signals to be supplied to the dc voltage generation units 211 to 214.

In the present embodiment, the light source control unit 51 determines the magnitude of the dc voltage generated by each of the dc voltage generation units 211 to 214 based on the user's input instruction regarding the intensity and the interference allowable distance of the pseudo coherent light beam and the pseudo coherent light beam characteristic information stored in the storage unit 50, and inputs the information to the dc signal generation unit 25. Then, the (average) intensity of the pseudo coherent light beams emitted from the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 is controlled in accordance with the magnitude of the dc signal transmitted from the dc signal generating unit 25 to the dc voltage generating units 211 to 214. The light source control unit 51 determines the values of the amplitude and frequency of the ac voltage generated by the ac voltage generation units 221 to 224, and inputs these pieces of information to the ac signal generation unit 26. Then, the distance over which the pseudo coherent light beams emitted from the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 can interfere is controlled in accordance with the frequency and amplitude of the alternating current signal transmitted from the alternating current signal generating unit 26 to the alternating current voltage generating units 221 to 224. Further, although the frequency of the ac signal is set to a frequency sufficiently higher than the readout frequency of the image sensor 4 (for example, a frequency of about 1000 times), and the interference allowable distance is set to an appropriate length (for example, several hundred μm) according to the size and optical characteristics of the observation target object, which will be described in detail later. The return light is returned to each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244, so that the coherence of the light emitted from each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 is reduced.

The illumination timing signal generation unit 27 sequentially transmits timing signals to the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 via the dc voltage generation units 211 to 214. In each of the drive current supply units 201 to 204, when the timing signal is transmitted to the dc voltage generation units 211 to 214, the ac signals generated by the ac voltage generation units 221 to 224 are superimposed on the dc signals generated by the dc voltage generation units 211 to 214, and the superimposed signals are transmitted to the voltage/current conversion units 231 to 234, so that the drive current is supplied to the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244. Thus, pseudo coherent light beams of different wavelengths are sequentially irradiated on the observation target object, and a hologram image of the observation target object based on the pseudo coherent light beams of the respective wavelengths is obtained.

Since the interference pattern of the pseudo-coherent light beam irradiated on the observation target object differs depending on the wavelength of the light beam, when four kinds of pseudo-coherent light beams having different wavelengths are irradiated on the observation target object as described above, four kinds of hologram images having different wavelengths are obtained, and four kinds of hologram data are acquired by the image sensor 4. Then, the arithmetic processing unit 52 of the control unit 5 obtains phase information by numerical operation from the four types of hologram data acquired by the image sensor 4, and reconstructs an image of the observation target object to generate an image of the observation target object with high resolution. The observation image generated by the arithmetic processing unit 52 is displayed on the display unit 7.

As described above, the holographic observation device 1 of the present embodiment observes the cells on the culture plate 3. When the user inputs values of the estimated thickness of the cell (generally, about several tens μm to several hundreds μm) and the thickness of the culture plate 3 (generally, about 1mm) via the input unit 6, the light source control unit 51 determines the amplitude and frequency of the ac signal so that the interference distance of the generated pseudo-coherent light beam is longer than the thickness of the observation target object (cell) (for example, about several tens μm to several hundreds μm) and shorter than the thickness of the non-observation target object (culture plate 3) (for example, about 1mm) existing on the optical path, based on the pseudo-coherent light beam characteristic information. Further, the frequency is set to a sufficiently higher frequency than the signal readout period of the image sensor 4 (for example, a frequency 1000 times the signal readout frequency of the image sensor 4). In the present embodiment, the thickness of the culture plate 3 is input because the non-observation object existing on the optical path is only the culture plate 3, but the user also inputs the thickness when a container, a glass plate, or the like for storing a sample is present on the optical path. Alternatively, the thickness of the thinnest object among the non-observation target objects is input. Here, although only the thickness of the cells and the culture plate 3 is input, when the observation target object is thick, the optical distance greatly changes depending on the refractive index, and therefore, it is preferable to input the refractive index in addition to the input thickness, and to configure the interference-enabling distance of the pseudo-coherent light beam to be longer than the optical thickness (product of the physical thickness and the refractive index) of the observation target object and shorter than the optical thickness of the non-observation target object.

As described above, in the holographic observation device 1 of the present embodiment, the amplitude and the frequency of the ac signal are determined so that the distance at which the pseudo-coherent light beam can interfere is longer than the thickness (for example, several tens μm to several hundreds μm) of the observation target object (cell) and shorter than the thickness (for example, approximately 1mm) of the non-observation target object (culture plate 3) existing on the optical path.

(specific construction of light Source Assembly 240)

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing a configuration example of the light source unit 240 of the light source unit 2 according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 3, the light source unit 240 of the present embodiment includes: four semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 for emitting light having different wavelengths; condenser lenses 251 to 254 for condensing light emitted from the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244; mirrors 261 to 264 (optical system) for reflecting the light having passed through the condenser lenses 251 to 254; an optical fiber 270 that receives the light reflected by the mirrors 261 to 264 and guides the light to the cells on the culture plate 3 for emission; and a box-shaped housing 200 for housing the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244, the condenser lenses 251 to 254, and the mirrors 261 to 264 and supporting the base end portion of the optical fiber 270. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, the direction parallel to the optical axis Ox of the optical fiber 270 is referred to as the X-axis direction, the directions parallel to the optical axes Ax1 to Ax4 of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 are referred to as the Z-axis direction, and the directions orthogonal to the X-axis direction and the Z-axis direction are referred to as the Y-axis direction.

The semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 are light emitting elements that emit light of different wavelengths (for example, 400nm, 520nm, 750nm, 800nm), and are disposed at a predetermined interval in the X-axis direction on the bottom surface in the housing 200. Electrodes of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 are electrically connected to the voltage/current converters 231 to 234 (fig. 2), and the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 emit light (indicated by solid arrows in fig. 3) having a predetermined intensity corresponding to the drive current supplied from the voltage/current converters 231 to 23 along the optical axes Ax1 to Ax 4.

The condenser lenses 251 to 254 are optical elements that condense the light emitted from the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 onto the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270, and are arranged in the optical paths of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 such that the optical axes of the condenser lenses 251 to 254 substantially coincide with the optical axes Ax1 to Ax4 of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244. In fig. 3, the condenser lenses 251 to 254 are each shown as a single biconvex lens, but may be composed of a plurality of lenses.

The reflecting mirrors 261 to 264 are optical elements that reflect the light having passed through the condensing lenses 251 to 254 toward the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270 and reflect the reflected light reflected by the incident end surface 271 toward the condensing lenses 251 to 254 and the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244, and in the present embodiment, are flat plate-shaped reflective band pass filters configured to reflect only the light of the corresponding semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244. The mirrors 261 to 264 of the present embodiment reflect light incident on the incident surface along the optical axis Ox of the optical fiber 270 (that is, along the X-axis direction). The mirrors 261 to 264 are configured to be rotatable about a central axis extending in the Y-axis direction through intersections of the optical axes Ax1 to Ax4 of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 and the optical axis Ox of the optical fiber 270, and are angularly adjustable by an angle adjustment mechanism (return light adjustment unit) not shown. As described above, since each of the mirrors 261 to 264 of the present embodiment is configured to reflect only the light of the corresponding semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244, the light reflected by the mirror 261 (that is, the light of the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 241) passes through the mirrors 262, 263, and 264 and enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270. In addition, the light reflected by the mirror 262 (that is, the light of the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 242) passes through the mirrors 263 and 264 and enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270, the light reflected by the mirror 263 (that is, the light of the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 243) passes through the mirror 264 and enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270, and the light reflected by the mirror 264 (that is, the light of the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 244) directly enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270.

As shown in fig. 3, the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270 of the present embodiment is a tapered surface inclined so that the normal line thereof forms a predetermined angle θ other than 0 with the optical axis Ox, and is configured to reflect a part of the light incident on the incident end surface 271. That is, a part of the light incident on the incident end surface 271 is reflected at a predetermined angle θ with respect to the optical axis Ox, and light other than the reflected light is incident on the optical fiber 270 from the incident end surface 271, guided, and emitted from the emission end surface 272. Light having a wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 244 in the reflected light (indicated by an arrow of a chain line in fig. 3) reflected by the incident end surface 271 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 264, passes through the condenser lens 254, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 244 as return light. Among the reflected light reflected by the incident end surface 271, light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 243 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 263, passes through the condenser lens 253, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 243 as return light. Of the reflected light reflected by the incident end surface 271, the light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 242 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 262, passes through the condenser lens 252, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 242 as return light. Among the reflected light reflected by the incident end surface 271, light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 241 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 261, passes through the condenser lens 251, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 241 as return light.

In this way, in the present embodiment, a part of the light emitted from each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 is returned to each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 (that is, return light is formed). If the configuration is such that return light is formed for the ordinary semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 oscillating in a single-wave mode, the emission spectrum spreads discretely.

Fig. 4 is a graph illustrating emission spectra of light emitted from the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 according to the present embodiment, in which fig. 4 (a) shows an emission spectrum in the case where no return light is present, fig. 4 (b) shows an emission spectrum in the case where return light is present, and fig. 4 (c) shows an emission spectrum in the case where return light is present and a low-frequency ac component is superimposed (details will be described later). In fig. 4 (a) to (c), the horizontal axis represents wavelength (nm) and the vertical axis represents intensity (mW).

As shown in fig. 4 (b), if the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 are configured to return a part of the light emitted from the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 (that is, to form return light), the spectrum thereof spreads discretely. The spectral width at this time changes depending on the quantity of return light and the characteristics of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the mirrors 261 to 264 are configured to be rotatable about a central axis extending in the Y-axis direction, and the angles of the return light with respect to the optical axes Ax1 to Ax4 of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 are changed by adjusting the rotation angles of the mirrors 261 to 264 by the angle adjustment mechanism, thereby adjusting the light amounts of the return light of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244. That is, the emission spectra of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 are adjusted to the shapes shown in fig. 4 (b) by adjusting the rotation angles of the mirrors 261 to 264. In addition, although the angle θ of the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270 also affects the amount of return light, in the present embodiment, by setting the angle θ to the range of 3 ° to 7 °, 10% to 90% of the light emitted from each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 is reflected toward each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244. In the present embodiment, the rotation angles of the mirrors 261 to 264 are adjusted, but as another embodiment, the rotation angles of the condenser lenses 251 to 254 may be adjusted, and the light quantity of the return light of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 may be adjusted by adjusting the rotation angles of the condenser lenses 251 to 254. The rotation angles of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 can be adjusted, and the light quantity of the return light of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 can be adjusted by adjusting the rotation angles of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 (that is, by changing the angles of the optical axes Ax1 to Ax4 of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 with respect to the mirrors 261 to 264).

(control of Interfertable distance)

As described above, in the present embodiment, the distance over which the pseudo coherent light beams emitted from the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 can interfere is controlled according to the frequency and amplitude of the ac signal transmitted from the ac signal generator 26 to the ac voltage generators 221 to 224. Specifically, it is known that as the amplitude of an ac signal superimposed on the drive current of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 becomes larger, the spectral width of a light beam becomes wider, coherence decreases, and the interference distance becomes shorter; and when alternating signals of low frequencies of about 50kHz to 300kHz are superimposed, the oscillation spectrum is widened, the spectral width of the light beam is continuously widened, the coherence is reduced, and the interference-enabling distance is shortened (refer to cited document 1). For example, by dividing the frequency: the 100kHz AC signal was superimposed, and the spectral width was continuously extended, thereby obtaining the emission spectrum shown in FIG. 4 (c). As described above, the frequency of the alternating current signal superimposed on the drive current is preferably a frequency at which the semiconductor laser light can be modulated at a sufficiently shorter cycle than the signal reading cycle of the image sensor 4 (i.e., a sufficiently higher frequency than the signal reading frequency of the image sensor 4), and is particularly preferably about 1000 times the signal reading frequency of the image sensor 4. For example, in the case of a general image sensor, since the signal read cycle is 33mm (the read frequency is 30Hz), the low-frequency ac signal of 50kHz to 300kHz is preferable.

As described above, in the hologram observation device 1 of the present embodiment, the return light is formed for the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244, the alternating voltage of a predetermined amplitude and frequency is generated in consideration of the thickness (and the refractive index) of the observation target object and the non-observation target object positioned on the optical path, and the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 are driven after being superimposed with the direct voltage, thereby obtaining the laser beam (pseudo coherent beam) of a desired interference distance. Then, by irradiating four types of pseudo-coherent light beams having different wavelengths onto the observation target object as described above, four types of hologram data corresponding to the wavelengths are acquired, and an image of the observation target object is reconstructed from the four types of hologram data, whereby an image of the observation target object with high resolution can be generated. In addition, in the light source module 240 of the present embodiment, since the light of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 is combined by the mirrors 261 to 264 without using a conventional optical fiber coupler, the light source module 240 can be miniaturized more than before.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described configuration, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, in the present embodiment, the mirrors 261 to 264 are optical elements that reflect the light that has passed through the respective condenser lenses 251 to 254 toward the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270, and reflect the reflected light that has been reflected by the incident end surface 271 toward the condenser lenses 251 to 254 and the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244, but are not limited to such a configuration. The return light to each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 may be formed, and for example, each of the mirrors 261 to 264 may be configured by two pieces of mirrors (first optical elements) that reflect the light having passed through each of the condenser lenses 251 to 254 toward the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270, and mirrors (second optical elements) that reflect the light reflected by the incident end surface 271 toward the condenser lenses 251 to 254 and the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244.

In the present embodiment, four types of hologram data corresponding to the wavelengths are acquired by using four semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 having different wavelengths from each other, but an image of an observation target object may be reconstructed from the hologram data, and the three types of hologram data may be acquired by using semiconductor laser diodes having at least three wavelengths (for example, 400nm, 520nm, and 800 nm).

(first modification of light Source Assembly 240)

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a first modification of the light source unit 240 of the light source unit 2 according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 5, the light source unit 240a of the present modification is different from the light source unit 240 of the present embodiment in that concave mirrors 261a to 264a are provided instead of the condenser lenses 251 to 254 and the reflectors 261 to 264 of the light source unit 240 of the present embodiment. That is, the light source unit 240a of the present modification includes: four semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 emitting light having different wavelengths; concave mirrors 261a to 264a that reflect light from the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244; an optical fiber 270 that receives the light reflected by the concave mirrors 261a to 264a and guides the light to be emitted toward the cells on the culture plate 3; and a box-shaped housing 200 for housing the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 and the concave mirrors 261a to 264a and supporting the base end portion of the optical fiber 270.

The concave mirrors 261a to 264a are optical elements that reflect light from the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 toward the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270 and reflect reflected light reflected by the incident end surface 271 toward the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244, and in the present modification, are concave (for example, elliptical or parabolic) band-pass filters configured to reflect only light from the corresponding semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244. The concave mirrors 261a to 264a of the present modification reflect the light incident on the incident surface along the optical axis Ox (that is, along the X-axis direction) of the optical fiber 270 as indicated by solid arrows in fig. 5. The concave mirrors 261a to 264a are configured to be rotatable about a central axis extending in the Y-axis direction and passing through intersections of the optical axes Ax1 to Ax4 of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 and the optical axis Ox of the optical fiber 270, and are adjustable in angle by an angle adjustment mechanism (return light adjustment unit) not shown. As described above, since each of the concave mirrors 261a to 264a of the present modification is configured to reflect only the light of the corresponding semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244, the light reflected by the concave mirror 261a (that is, the light of the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 241) passes through the concave mirrors 262a, 263a, and 264a and enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270. The light reflected by the concave mirror 262a (that is, the light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 242) passes through the concave mirrors 263a and 264a and enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270, the light reflected by the concave mirror 263a (that is, the light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 243) passes through the concave mirror 264a and enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270, and the light reflected by the concave mirror 264a (that is, the light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 244) directly enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270.

As shown in fig. 5, in the present modification as well, similarly to the present embodiment, the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270 is inclined so that the normal line thereof forms a predetermined angle θ other than 0 with the optical axis Ox, and part of the light incident on the incident end surface 271 is reflected. That is, a part of the light incident on the incident end surface 271 is reflected at a predetermined angle θ with respect to the optical axis Ox, and light other than the reflected light is incident on the optical fiber 270 from the incident end surface 271, guided, and emitted from the emission end surface 272. The light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 244 in the reflected light (indicated by an arrow of a chain line in fig. 5) reflected by the incident end surface 271 is reflected by the concave mirror 264a, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 244 as return light. In addition, of the reflected light reflected by the incident end surface 271, light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 243 is reflected by the concave mirror 263a, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 243 as return light. The light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 242 in the reflected light reflected by the incident end surface 271 is reflected by the concave mirror 262a, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 242 as return light. In addition, of the reflected light reflected by the incident end surface 271, light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 241 is reflected by the concave mirror 261a, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 241 as return light.

As described above, in the present modification, as in the present embodiment, a part of the light emitted from each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 is returned to each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 (that is, return light is formed), and the light amount of the return light of each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 is adjusted by adjusting the rotation angle of each of the concave mirrors 261a to 264 a. Therefore, the emission spectrum of each semiconductor laser diode 241 to 244 is discretely expanded. In addition, although the present modification is configured to adjust the rotation angles of the concave mirrors 261a to 264a, as another modification, the rotation angles of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 may be configured to be adjusted.

(second modification of the light Source Module 240)

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a second modification of the light source unit 240 of the light source unit 2 according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 6, the light source module 240b of the present modification differs from the light source module 240 of the present embodiment in that a beam splitter module is provided between the reflecting mirror 264 of the light source module 240 of the present embodiment and the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270, and the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270 is formed substantially perpendicular to the optical axis Ox. That is, the light source unit 240b of the present modification includes: four semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 emitting light having different wavelengths; condenser lenses 251 to 254 for condensing light emitted from the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244; reflectors 261 to 264 for reflecting the light having passed through the condenser lenses 251 to 254; a beam splitter unit 280 into which light reflected by the reflectors 261 to 264 is incident; an optical fiber 270 that is incident light that has passed through the spectroscope assembly 280 and guides the light toward cells on the culture plate 3; and a box-shaped housing 200 for housing the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244, the condenser lenses 251 to 254, the reflecting mirrors 261 to 264, and the beam splitter unit 280 and supporting the base end portion of the optical fiber 270. The mirrors 261 to 264 of the present modification are fixed at a predetermined angle with respect to the optical axis Ox and do not rotate as in the mirrors 261 to 264 of the present embodiment.

The beam splitter unit 280 is a disk-shaped member in which four beam splitters 281 to 284 (beam splitters 283 and 284 are not shown in fig. 6) are arranged at equal angular intervals (for example, 90 °), and is configured to be rotatable about a rotation axis Bx extending in the X-axis direction, and the transmittances of the four beam splitters 281 to 284 are different depending on the wavelengths of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244. The spectroscope assembly 280 is rotated according to the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 selected by the illumination timing signal generation unit 27, and the spectroscopes 281 to 284 are switched, whereby the light quantity of the return light of each semiconductor laser diode 241 to 244 is controlled. That is, when the semiconductor laser diode 241 is selected by the illumination timing signal generation unit 27 and the semiconductor laser diode 241 emits light, the spectroscope 281 is arranged on the optical axis Ox. The light reflected by the reflecting mirror 261 (that is, the light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 241) passes through the reflecting mirrors 262, 263, and 264 and the beam splitter 281 and enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270. When the semiconductor laser diode 242 is selected by the illumination timing signal generation unit 27 and the semiconductor laser diode 242 emits light, the beam splitter 282 is disposed on the optical axis Ox. The light reflected by the reflecting mirror 262 (that is, the light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 242) passes through the reflecting mirrors 263 and 264 and the beam splitter 282 and enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270. When the semiconductor laser diode 243 is selected by the illumination timing signal generation unit 27 and the semiconductor laser diode 243 emits light, the beam splitter 283 is disposed on the optical axis Ox. The light reflected by the reflecting mirror 263 (that is, the light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 243) passes through the reflecting mirror 264 and the beam splitter 283 and enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270. When the semiconductor laser diode 244 is selected by the illumination timing signal generation unit 27 and the semiconductor laser diode 244 emits light, the beam splitter 284 is disposed on the optical axis Ox. Further, the light reflected by the reflecting mirror 264 (that is, the light of the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 244) passes through the beam splitter 284 and enters the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270.

As shown in fig. 6, in the present modification, the incident end surface 271 of the optical fiber 270 is formed substantially perpendicular to the optical axis Ox, and a part of the light incident on the incident end surface 271 is reflected. That is, a part of the light incident on the incident end surface 271 is reflected in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis Ox (that is, in a direction opposite to the X-axis direction), and the light other than the reflected light is incident into the optical fiber 270 from the incident end surface 271, guided, and emitted from the emission end surface 272. Light having a wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 244 in the reflected light (indicated by an arrow of a chain line in fig. 5) reflected by the incident end surface 271 passes through the beam splitter 284, is reflected by the reflecting mirror 264, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 244 as return light. Among the reflected light reflected by the incident end surface 271, light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 243 passes through the beam splitter 283, is reflected by the reflecting mirror 263, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 243 as return light. In addition, of the reflected light reflected by the incident end surface 271, the light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 242 passes through the beam splitter 282, is reflected by the mirror 262, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 242 as return light. Among the reflected light reflected by the incident end surface 271, light having the wavelength of the semiconductor laser diode 241 passes through the beam splitter 281 and is reflected by the reflecting mirror 261, and enters the semiconductor laser diode 241 as return light.

In this way, in the present modification, as in the present embodiment, a part of the light emitted from each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 is returned to each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 (that is, return light is formed), and the light amount of the return light of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 can be switched by arranging four beam splitters 281 to 284, whose transmittances are different depending on the wavelengths of each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244, in the optical path of the return light so as to be switchable. That is, the light quantity of the return light of each of the semiconductor laser diodes 241 to 244 is adjusted so as to be an optimum light quantity (that is, so that the emission spectrum becomes a discretely spread emission spectrum) by switching the beam splitters 281 to 284.

The embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects, and should not be construed as being restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined not by the above description but by the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims.