Abstract
Confocal microscopes are known for optically removing the out-of-focus information (i.e., blur) in each transverse section of the sample’s volume, providing a more accurate three-dimensional image of thick microscopicsamples than widefield microscopes. In this work, we have designed and evaluated a confocal microscope using off-of-shelf optical components from Thorlabs’ catalog, one of the major optical manufacturers. The design and evaluation have been implemented using Zemax OpticStudio, the standard optical system design software for realistic optical simulation. Here, we have also reported a practical protocol for building a confocal microscope using sequential mode.