Effects of both diffractive element and fiber optic based detector in a chromatic confocal system

• Effect of the Fresnel lens and fiber optical detector at the performance of one chromatic confocal probe.
• The axial resolution of the system is influenced by the characteristics of the Fresnel lens.
• Analysis of the axial resolution from polychromatic FWHM.

A research about the influences that both diffractive lens (DL) and optical fiber detector (OFD) have in a System of Chromatic Confocal Microscopy (SCCM) is presented. Three probes with different diffractive lenses were used. A halogen source was used in the illumination system and an optical fiber, which functions as a pinhole, was used in the detection system. Two studies were carried out. In both studies the axial resolution and energy of the systems were compared and analyzed. In the first one, a 300 µm fiber detector was used and the resolution and energy of every system was analyzed. In the second one, the two systems with the better characteristics of energy and resolution were elected and the same test was made, but on this occasion using an 8 µm fiber detector. The results suggest that both DL and OFD play an important role in the axial resolution and energy efficiency of the SCCM.