Ultra-high resolution microscope

1. A microscope comprising:

an illumination light source unit capable of generating illumination light;

an adjustment element for adjusting an optical property of the illumination light;

a modulation optical element having a plurality of regions for spatial modulation of the illumination light;

an illumination optical system including an objective lens for collecting the first illumination light and the second illumination light on a sample including the material by partially overlapping the lights;

a photodetector for detecting emitted light from the sample as irradiated with the first illumination light and the second illumination light from the illumination optical system;

a confocal pinhole having an aperture of variable size, disposed in a position conjugate with a focal position of the objective lens on an incidence side of the photodetector;

a drive unit for varying the size of the aperture of the confocal pinhole; and

a control unit for simultaneously generating the first illumination light and the second illumination light by controlling the plurality of illumination light sources and also for controlling the aperture of the confocal pinhole, via the drive unit, in order to satisfy the following formula in accordance with the first illumination light and the second illumination light

0.61

⁢

λ

p

NA

⁢

M

>

a

≥

0.49

⁢

ɛ

e

τ

⁢

⁢

σ

dip

⁢

C

e

⁢

⁢

0

⁢

λ

e

NA

⁢

M

NA: numerical aperture of objective lens

M: magnification of photodetector for focusing image on object side

λp: wavelength of first illumination light

λe: wavelength of second illumination light

σ dip : fluorescence suppressing cross-section area

C e0 : peak intensity of second illumination light

ε e : photon flux of second illumination light,

wherein the illumination light has a first illumination light for making a material having at least two excited quantum states emit light by exciting the material from a stable state to a first quantum state, and a second illumination light for suppressing emission of light by making the material further transit to another quantum state, wherein the modulation optical element and the adjustment element are disposed in the illumination optical system.

2. The microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the adjustment element adjusts the illumination light having passed through the modulation optical element such that an unsymmetrical component of at least one of a transmittance and a phase around an optical axis is cancelled out between the plurality of regions of the modulation optical element.

3. The microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the adjustment element adjusts such that the following relation expression is satisfied, provided that S i represents dimensions of each region i corresponding to the plurality of regions on a pupil plane of the illumination light spatially modulated by the modulation optical element, θ i represents a phase of a light having passed through an area corresponding to each region i, T i represents the transmittance, and U i represents an energy density,

∑

i

=

1

n

⁢

T

i

⁢

S

i

⁢

sin

⁢

⁢

θ

i

=

∑

i

=

1

n

⁢

U

i

=

0.

4. The microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the adjustment element is integrally formed in the modulation optical element.

5. The microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the modulation optical element includes regions radially divided about the optical axis as the plurality of regions.

6. The microscope according to claim 5 , wherein the following equation T a S a sin θ a +T b S b sin θ b =0 is satisfied, provided that, for the plurality of regions of the modulation optical element, a region a has a transmittance T a , dimensions S a and a phase θ a , whereas a region b, located across the optical axis from the region a, has a transmittance T b , dimensions S b and a phase θ b .

7. The microscope according to claim 6 , wherein the region a and the region b are in the same size.

8. The microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of regions of the modulation optical element are concentrically divided around a central axis of the modulation optical element.

9. The microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the modulation optical element modulates a phase of the second illumination light.

10. The microscope according to claim 9 , wherein the modulation optical element makes the first illumination light transmit without changing a sign of an electric field.

11. The microscope according to claim 10 , wherein the modulation optical element has optical multilayer.

12. The microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the illumination optical system overlaps an optical axis of the first illumination light and an optical axis of the second illumination light in a spatially matching manner.

13. The microscope according to claim 12 , wherein the illumination optical system has a single mode fiber, and

the first illumination light and the second illumination light are incident on the modulation optical element and the adjustment element via the single mode fiber.

14. The microscope according to claim 1 , wherein the adjustment element comprises an iris for adjusting a diameter of luminous flux of the illumination light.

15. The microscope according to claim 14 , wherein the iris is movable in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the illumination light entering.

16. The microscope according to claim 1 , comprising a plurality of illumination light sources capable of generating illumination lights, wherein

the first illumination light and the second illumination light are simultaneously generated from the plurality of illumination light sources.

17. A microscope comprising:

an adjustment element for adjusting an optical property of an illumination light; and

a modulation optical element having a plurality of regions for spatial modulation of the illumination light,

wherein the adjustment element adjusts such that the following relation expression is satisfied, provided that S i represents dimensions of each region i corresponding to the plurality of regions on a pupil plane of the illumination light spatially modulated by the modulation optical element, θ i represents a phase of a light having passed through an area corresponding to each region i, T i represents the transmittance, and U i represents an energy density,

∑

i

=

1

n

⁢

T

i

⁢

S

i

⁢

sin

⁢

⁢

θ

i

=

∑

i

=

1

n

⁢

U

i

=

0.