A parallel mode confocal system using micro-lens and pinhole array in dual microscope configuration

The three-dimensional measurement method of confocal system is a spot scanning method which has high resolution and good illumination efficiency. But the conventional confocal system had a weak point that it has to do xy axis scanning to achieve field of view (FOV) vision through spot scanning. There are some methods to improve this by using galvano mirror, pin-hole array, etc. In this paper we propose a method to improve a parallel mode confocal system using microlens and pin-hole array in dual microscope configuration. We made area scan possible by using a combination micro lens array (MLA) and pin-hole array, and used objective lens to improve light transmittance and signal-to-noise ratio. Additionally we made it possible to change the objective lens so that it is capable to select a lens considering the reflection characteristic of the measuring object and proper magnification. We did experiment using 5X, 2.3X objective lens, and did calibration of height using VLSI calibration target.