The invention relates to a confocal 4.pi. microscopy method which is characterized by coherently illuminating a sample from two sides by one objective each with illumination light which has at least one illumination wavelength whereby a stationary illumination wave having a main illumination maximum and secondary illumination maxima is produced by interference of the illumination light in the sample. The detection light emitted by the sample has at least one detection wavelength and is detected through the two objectives. The detection light is made to interfere, thereby producing in the sample a detection pattern having a main detection maximum, secondary detection maxima and detection minima in such a manner that the secondary illumination maxima and the detection minima overlap at least partially.
Disclosed are an array and a method for the spectrally resolving detection of a sample (22) that is illuminated by means of an illuminating radiation (12) by detecting a sample radiation (24) emitted by the sample (22). Said array comprises an illuminating beam path via which illuminating radiation (12) can be delivered to the sample (22) from a lighting source (10, 10'), and an observation beam path via which sample radiation (24) can be delivered to a detector (40) an observation radiation. An interferometer (30) that is disposed in a section of the observation beam path, which does not comprise the sample (22), splits incident input inteferometer radiation into two portions by means of an interferometer beam splitter, directs said two radiation portions via two paths which are provided with radiation-guiding means (34, 36) and whose effective path length difference can be modified, and superimposes the two radiation portions in a mutually interfering manner so as to form an interferometer output radiation such that the spectral distribution of the observation radiation (24) impinging at a specific point of the detector (40) can be modified by modifying the effective path length difference. The interferometer (30) is arranged in a beam path section that is common to the illuminating beam path and the observation beam path such that the effective path length difference in the illuminating beam path changes when the effective path length difference is modified in the observation beam path.
A method for adjusting two objective lenses in a 4Pi system of a scanning microscope includes imaging a reference object in respective pupils of the objective lenses so as to form a respective Fourier image for each of the objective lenses from a respective image of the reference object. The respective Fourier images are brought into coincidence by moving at least one of the objective lenses relative to the other.
