Digital micro-mirror device based modulator for microscope illumination

A flexible illumination scheme for microscope based on a spatial light modulator named Digital Micro-mirror Device (DMD) is presented in this paper. Through the combination of DMD and conventional illumination system, the incident light can be modulated to certain preset patterns as new illumination for microscope. Some features, including intensity, shape, distribution, area and exposure time, were all precisely controllable via computer. The improvement has a promising potential in some fields such as bio-technology and optical lithography.