Assembly overview
The animation above shows you 4 major modules: left excitation arm, detection arm, sample stages, and right excitation arm, in recommended assembling sequence. This is only an overview - see the detailed instructions for each module for the latest components and their arrangement.
Laser light from the fiber output is collimated by L1 and then redirected into the electrically tunable lens (ETL). A 1:1 relay (lenses L3, L4) reimages the ETL onto a galvo mirror (M4), which is placed at the back pupil plane of the excitation objective L5 (modified f=50 mm Nikon objective). Scanning the Gaussian beam along one axis generates the light-sheet illumination. Modulation of the ETL optical power displaces the light-sheet axially (left to right), and it is synchronized with the sCMOS camera rolling shutter (ASLM mode). The fold mirrors M1, M2, M3 make the system more compact and allow angular alignment of the laser beam.
3D rendering of the left excitation arm. The parts that need customization in a machine shop are marked red.
Note: Excitation and detection objectives' optical axes are about 135 mm above the optical table.
Optical design of right excitation arm is identical to the left, with the only difference that the collimated laser beam is directed to the right by flip mirror (REF) and passes through folding mirrors (REF) before entering the ETL.
CAD
CAD
Detection arms consists of a camera with telecentric lens attached, and a emission filter (2 inch diameter) in front of the lens.
The lens mount (red) consists of two 3D printed parts bolted together and attached to the rail carrieage with M6 bolts.
The motorized flipper mount (Thorlabs MFF102/M) can switch between quad-band emission filter or no filter (alignment) position.
Optionally, a modified 5-position filter wheel (Thorlabs LCFW5) attached to a servo can be used.
The sample stages assembly consists of two vertical linear stages (Y axis, ASI Dual-LS100-FTP, travel range 100 mm) connected together with a custom bridge (red, ASI mesoSPIM-Bridge). The X- and Z-axis stages are mounted on the bridge, and the rotation stage is mounted on top Z-stage. The sample (green) in a sample cuvette (or holder) is attached to the rotating stage shaft via kinematic base (Thorlabs KB25/M). The immersion cuvette with index-matched oil is placed on adjustable prism table (Radiant Dyes RD-PDT-S).