Abstract: A beam scanning device includes a variable-wavelength laser that emits a laser beam, a plane-wave converting unit that converts the laser beam into a plane-wave laser beam, a light-intensity-distribution converting unit including a first light-intensity-distribution converting unit set to be obliquely tilted with respect to an emitting direction of the laser beam within a horizontal plane and a second light-intensity-distribution converting unit set to be obliquely tilted with respect to the emitting direction of the laser beam within a plane perpendicular to the horizontal plane and parallel to the emitting direction of the laser beam, the light-intensity-distribution converting unit converting a peak position of light intensity of the plane-wave laser beam according to a wavelength of the plane-wave laser beam, and a spherical-wave converting unit that converts the plane-wave laser beam, the peak position of the light intensity of which is converted, into a spherical-wave laser beam.

Abstract: An optical component holder having a base portion with a chamfered (or step) portion is disclosed herein that allows a technician to position and partially insert the same within an associated opening using a relatively minor amount of force. The chamfered portion of the base portion operates, in a general sense, as a guide that ensures proper alignment of the optical component holder and allows the same to travel a predetermined distance within the opening before being blocked from further travel by “bottoming” out when the wider portion of the base is at the edge of the associated opening. Thus, the chamfered portion provides an alignment feature to provide tactile feedback that indicates to the technician that the optical component holder is aligned and evenly inserted into an associated opening prior to supplying additional force to press the optical component holder fully into a housing.

Abstract: Provided is a uniaxially stretched multi-layer laminate film including a first layer and a second layer alternately laminated each other, wherein the first layer is a layer containing a polyester, the polyester containing an ethylene naphthalate unit in an amount of 50 mol % or more and 100 mol % or less on a basis of a repeating unit that constitutes the polyester, and a polymer that forms the second layer is a copolymer polyester containing, as copolymer components, a 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid component, an ethylene glycol component, and a trimethylene glycol component, (A) the content of an ethylene naphthalate unit in the polyester of the first layer being 80 mol % or more and 100 mol % or less on a basis of the repeating unit that constitutes the polyester, or (B) the polymer that forms the second layer being the copolymer polyester further containing, as a copolymer component, an alicyclic diol component.

Abstract: A light sheet microscope includes an illumination optical system that irradiates a light sheet onto a sample and a setting changer that changes a setting of a divergence angle or convergence angle relating to a width direction of the light sheet emitted from the illumination optical system.

Abstract: A method of providing a catadioptric projection includes: providing a first partial objective for imaging an object field onto a first real intermediate image; providing a second partial objective for imaging the first real intermediate image onto a second real intermediate image, in which the second partial objective includes a concave mirror; providing a third partial objective for imaging the second intermediate image onto an image field, the third partial objective including an aperture stop; providing a first folding mirror and a second folding mirror; and providing an antireflection coating onto a surface of at least one lens that is directly adjacent to the concave mirror or that is separate from the concave mirror by a single lens, in which the antireflection coating is designed to have reflectivity of less than 0.2% for a wavelength between 150 nm and 250 nm and for an angle-of-incidence range between 0° and 30°.

Abstract: A digital microscope system configured for use with the built in camera of a mobile device is provided. The digital microscope system has a lens and an advanced lighting system incorporated into a case designed to fit a particular mobile device, where the case positions the optics of the case over the lens of the built in camera and the camera built in flash. When combined with an application program (app) running on the mobile device held within the case, the optics of the case combined with the built in camera of the mobile device becomes a powerful digital microscope with a user adjustable magnification. In a specific embodiment the adjustable magnification ranges from 1× up to 200× optical magnification.

Abstract: An interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle includes a mirror reflective element and a mirror casing supporting the mirror reflective element. The mirror casing includes a synthesized ABS material having an additional styrene copolymer added to that of the native ABS in the polymerization process of the ABS material. The synthesized ABS may include a Hushlloy™ material. The mirror casing that is made of the synthesized ABS material may include a rear housing portion or a bezel.

Abstract: A mirror assembly for a vehicle is disclosed. The mirror assembly comprises a support bracket, a glass element operably coupled with the support bracket, and an actuator assembly. The actuator assembly is in connection with the support bracket, wherein the actuator assembly is adjustable to tilt the glass element to a first position and to a second position. A damper is in engagement with the actuator assembly and the support bracket. The damper controls a movement of the actuator assembly corresponding to the movement of the glass element from the first position to the second position. The mirror assembly further comprises a sensor configured to detect a position of the actuator assembly.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for cooling a digital micromirror device are disclosed. For example, the apparatus includes a digital micromirror device (DMD), a socket coupled to the DMD and a spray cooling block coupled to the socket to form an enclosed volume with a surface of the DMD. The spray cooling block includes a first plurality of openings to spray liquid droplets onto the surface of the DMD and a second plurality of openings to collect effluent into an effluent collection volume.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides an integrated optical component array and method of making an integrated optical component array useful for projection devices or other optical devices. The integrated optical component array can be a PBS array fabricated such that the individual PBS cubes having several elements can be assembled in a massively parallel manner and then singulated as individual optical components, and can result in a large reduction in manufacturing cost.

Abstract: An illumination device for a microscope or an optical 3D surface measuring apparatus, more particularly according to the principle of focus variation. The illumination device includes LEDs arranged in a planar fashion, and an illumination optical unit for imaging the illumination spectrum onto an object to be examined. The illumination optical unit includes an arrangement of converging lenses and one Fresnel lens, and the light beams emitted by the LEDs firstly impinge on the converging lenses and then impinge in a parallel-directed manner on the Fresnel lens. The Fresnel lens is oriented in reflective arrangement such that lens vertices of a prism structure are arranged at a light exit side of the Fresnel lens, facing away from the converging lenses. The converging lenses are formed by annular segments, and adjacent annular segments adjoin one another in a planar fashion at a segment side surface.

Abstract: Embodiments provide a lens moving apparatus including a housing for supporting a first magnet, a bobbin including a coil disposed on an outer surface thereof and inside the first magnet so as to move in the housing in a first direction parallel to an optical axis by electromagnetic interaction between the first magnet and the coil, and upper and lower elastic members, each of which is provided at the bobbin and the housing and includes an inner frame coupled to the bobbin and an outer frame coupled to the housing, wherein at least one of the upper and lower elastic members is constituted by a printed circuit board.

Abstract: A torque tube coupler that rigidly connects reflectors and provides for substantially 360° rotational freedom for the reflectors as well as the ability to transmit rotation from one reflector to another so that the reflectors may essentially be placed at the same angle. The torque coupler includes first and second torque tube coupler assemblies each configured to be connected to a reflector in a solar energy collection system. The torque coupler also includes a support point that supports said first torque coupler assembly and said second torque tube coupler assembly. This support point includes a shaft that facilitates the rigid connection of the first torque tube coupler assembly to the second torque tube coupler assembly and a bearing that facilitates 360° rotation of the first reflector and the second reflector.

Abstract: A parabolic trough reflector assembly consists of (1) a free-hanging, flexible rectangular sheet that is highly reflective of solar radiation and (2) support hardware which critically supports the reflecting sheet at two opposing edges. Methods are disclosed for providing linear dimensions and edge slopes for the reflecting sheet that are consistent with a parabolic trough having specific predetermined dimensions and a predetermined focal length. Methods are disclosed for providing uniform loading for a reflecting sheet when it is critically supported as a free-hanging element. The methods involve tapering the thickness of a sheet, applying variable-thickness coatings to a sheet of uniform thickness, or fabricating discreet thickness variations into a sheet of otherwise uniform thickness.

Abstract: A sleeve 15 is formed on a mirror base 10. An opening 28a is formed in a mirror head 20. The sleeve 15 has an outer peripheral surface including a first outer peripheral surface 15a and a second outer peripheral surface 15b. The second outer peripheral surface 15b is located further in an inward radial direction of the sleeve 15 than the first outer peripheral surface 15a. The second outer peripheral surface 15b is formed so as to extend smoothly in a circumferential direction of the sleeve. A passage 40, which guides wind entering the mirror head 20, is formed between the second outer peripheral surface 15b and an inner peripheral surface of the opening 28a.

Abstract: This invention is intended to allow an experimenter to work at amenable temperatures while viewing and/or manipulating aqueous protein crystals or other specimens under a dissection microscope at close to 4° C. or other controlled temperatures. The invention provides a specimen stage chamber large enough to fit a multi-well plate containing the specimens. The temperature of this specimen stage chamber is controlled by transparent coolant circulated through its walls and through a transparent chamber beneath the specimen stage chamber, without blocking the light path of the microscope. An additional chamber cools the air above the specimen stage chamber. In one version of this apparatus, circulation of most coolants is replaced by an array of Peltier coolers. The apparatus is open to the air above, giving the experimenter direct access to the crystals for manipulation. The invention may have wider application for manipulation of other specimens under a microscope.

Abstract: Disclosed are several technical approaches of using low coherence interferometry techniques to create an autofocus apparatus for optical microscopy. These approaches allow automatic focusing on thin structures that are positioned closely to reflective surfaces and behind refractive material like a cover slip, and automated adjustment of focus position into the sample region without disturbance from reflection off adjacent surfaces. The measurement offset induced by refraction of material that covers the sample is compensated for. Proposed are techniques of an instrument that allows the automatic interchange of imaging objectives in a low coherence interferometry autofocus system, which is of major interest in combination with TDI (time delay integration) imaging, confocal and two-photon fluorescence microscopy.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, a display device includes a display module which emits display light, a polarizing element including a transmission axis which transmits first linearly polarized light, the polarizing element reflecting second linearly polarized light intersecting the transmission axis, and an optical element includes a retroreflector which retroreflects light reflected from the polarizing element, the optical element being curved, and includes a first portion which is concave, and a second portion which is convex and is connected to the first portion.

Abstract: An optical microscope having a sample plane for positioning a sample, and a light source for emitting illumination light, includes optical imaging means for guiding the illumination light into the sample plane. A detector device having a plurality of detector elements for detecting sample light coming from the sample. Adjacent detector elements are at a distance from one another which is smaller than an Airy-Disk produced by a point of the sample plane on the detector device. A scanning device has at least a first and a second optical arrangement simultaneously movable in a common direction for producing an illumination scanning movement and a detection scanning movement, which are opposite to one another.

Abstract: At a vehicle door mirror device, an inner wall of a mirror holder is nipped between a supporting surface of an inner case and a contacting surface of a support pivot, and a peripheral wall of the mirror holder is made to press-contact a peripheral wall of a case. Here, at a time when the mirror holder is rotated, the support pivot is displaced toward a vehicle rear side, and nipping of the inner wall between the supporting surface and the contacting surface is cancelled, and press-contacting of the mirror holder peripheral wall against the case peripheral wall is cancelled. Therefore, frictional force between the supporting surface and the contacting surface and the inner wall, and frictional force between the case peripheral wall and the mirror holder peripheral wall, can be reduced effectively.