A computer controlled optical microscope for three dimensional track analysis

A Computer Controlled Optical Microscope (CCOM) system has been developed that is capable of producing consecutive optical micro-images of transparent micro-objects, each image corresponding to a different depth of focus. The combination of the images can be used to produce a three dimensional (3D) image of the object. Multiple slices at arbitrary angles may be deduced from the 3D image. The system consists of an optical microscope with a computer controlled stage with 3D movement, a CCD camera, a frame grabber, three digital position gauges and counters (for X,Y and Z directions), an interface board for driving the stage and reading the counters and a personal computer with appropriately developed software for Windows. CCOM can be used successfully in particle identification in solid state nuclear track detectors as well as in the detailed track geometry analysis along the etched damage trails. Preliminary results on the use of the CCOM in analysing of the charged particle tracks in plastic and mica detectors are presented.