Home > Products > Micro-Inspection > LaserTrac Autofocus
Axsys Technologies' LaserTrac™ AutoFocus
provides real-time autofocus of most
infinite conjugate microscope syste
ms. These systems include objectives
manufactured by Olympus, Leica, Nikon,
Zeiss and Mitutoyo, to name a few.
The LaserTrac AutoFocus was designed
and has been applied to the most demanding
applications. Inspection systems processing
read-write heads, hard disks, semi
conductor wafers, and even razor blades
benefit from the use of this unique
instrument. In accomplishing these
tasks, the LaserTrac provides increased
(in some cases 300%) throughput and
greatly reduced operator fatigue. The
design of the LaserTrac AutoFocus introduces
a focused light source (750–780
nM) into the optical path. This is
accomplished by inserting the unit
between the vertical illuminator and
objective(s). By monitoring the reflected
beam, the LaserTrac AutoFocus is able
to disseminate above or below focus
conditions and generate an error signal
to continuously keep the system in
focus. This allows for fast and repeatable
focus even when the sample is being
moved.
The speed (or convergence) of the system
to an "in focus" condition
is affected by many factors. The most
fundamental is the bandwidth of the
focusing mechanism. Through the use
of traction wheels, direct drive systems,
peizo electric elements, and voice
coil type actuators, Axsys has been
able to obtain band widths of 10 to
greater than 100 Hz depending on the
application. With the bandwidth range
available, the LaserTrac AutoFocus
can be integrated into numerous applications.
