Performance of a three-dimensional-printed microscanner in a laser scanning microscopy application

Abstract

A magnetically actuated microscanner is used in a laser scanning microscopy application. Stress distribution along the circular-profiled flexure is compared with a rectangular counterpart in finite-element environment. Magnetic actuation mechanism of the scanning unit is explained in detail. Moreover, reliability of the scanner is tested for 3 x 10(6) cycle. The scanning device is designed to meet a confocal microscopy application providing 100 mu m x 100 mu m field of view and <3 mu m lateral resolution. The resonance frequencies of the device were analytically modeled, where we obtained 130- and 268-Hz resonance values for the out-of-plane and torsion modes, respectively. The scanning device provided an optical scan angle about 2.5 deg for 170-mA drive current, enabling the desired field of view for our custom built confocal microscope setup. Finally, imaging experiments were conducted on a resolution target, showcasing the desired scan area and resolution. (C) 2018 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)