Microscope Objective Turrets

Overview
Microscope Dovetails
DIY Cerna Interfaces
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Features

Easily Rotate Objectives in an Imaging System
Mount Four or Five Objectives at Once
OT1 Objective Lens Turret Compatible with SM1 Lens Tubes
Cerna^® Objective Lens Turrets Compatible with DIY Cerna Components

Thorlabs offers four-position or five-position microscope objective lens turrets for mounting objective lenses in either horizontal or vertical orientations. The OT1 is a compact objective lens turret that has four RMS (0.800"-36)-threaded ports and an SM1-threaded mounting interface, making it compatible with Thorlabs' lens tubes. Our Cerna objective lens turrets have five mounting ports with either RMS or M25 x 0.75 threads. They have a D1T dovetail mounting interface for compatibility with the CSA1400 mounting arm, sold separately below.

Additionally, we offer a Post-Mountable Focus Block that includes a built-in five-objective turret.

Thorlabs Dovetail Reference^a
Type	Shape	Outer Dimension	Angle
95 mm	Linear	95 mm	45°
D1N	Circular	Ø2.018"	60°
D2N^b	Circular	Ø1.50"	90°
D2NB^b	Circular	Ø1.50"	90°
D3N	Circular	Ø45 mm	70°
D5N	Circular	Ø1.58"	90°
D6N	Circular	Ø1.90"	90°
D7N	Circular	Ø2.05"	90°
D1T	Circular	Ø1.50"	60°
D3T	Circular	Ø1.65"	90°
D1Y	Circular	Ø107 mm	60°
D2Y	Circular	Ø2.32"	50°
D3Y	Circular	Ø1.75"	90°
D4Y	Circular	Ø56 mm	60°
D5Y	Circular	Ø46 mm	60°
D6Y	Circular	Ø41.9 mm	45°
D1Z	Circular	Ø54 mm	60°
D2Z	Circular	Ø57 mm	60°
D3Z	Circular	Ø54 mm	45°

These dovetail designations are specific to Thorlabs products and are not used by other microscope manufacturers.
D2N and D2NB dovetails have the same outer diameter and angle, as defined by the drawings below. The D2N designation does not specify a height. The D2NB designation specifies a dovetail height of 0.40" (10.2 mm).

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This photo shows the male D1N dovetail on the trinoculars next to the female D1N dovetail on the epi-illumination arm.

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This photo shows the male 95 mm dovetail on the microscope body and the female 95 mm dovetail on the CSA1002 Fixed Arm.

Introduction to Microscope Dovetails

Dovetails are used for mechanical mating and optical port alignment of microscope components. Components are connected by inserting one dovetail into another, then tightening one or more locking setscrews on the female dovetail. Dovetails come in two shapes: linear and circular. Linear dovetails allow the mating components to slide before being locked down, providing flexible positioning options while limiting unneeded degrees of freedom. Circular dovetails align optical ports on different components, maintaining a single optical axis with minimal user intervention.

Thorlabs manufactures many components which use dovetails to mate with our own components or those of other manufacturers. To make it easier to identify dovetail compatibility, we have developed a set of dovetail designations. The naming convention of these designations is used only by Thorlabs and not other microscope manufacturers. The table to the right lists all the dovetails Thorlabs makes, along with their key dimensions.

In the case of Thorlabs’ Cerna^® microscopes, different dovetail types are used on different sections of the microscope to ensure that only compatible components can be mated. For example, our WFA2002 Epi-Illuminator Module has a male D1N dovetail that mates with the female D1N dovetail on the microscope body's epi-illumination arm, while the CSS2001 XY Microscopy Stage has a female D1Y dovetail that mates with the male D1Y dovetail on the CSA1051 Mounting Arm.

To learn which dovetail type(s) are on a particular component, consult its mechanical drawing, available by clicking on the red Docs icon () below. For adapters with a female dovetail, the drawing also indicates the size of the hex key needed for the locking setscrew(s). It is important to note that mechanical compatibility does not ensure optical compatibility. Information on optical compatibility is available from Thorlabs' web presentations.

For customers interested in machining their own dovetails, the table to the right gives the outer diameter and angle (as defined by the drawings below) of each Thorlabs dovetail designation. However, the dovetail's height must be determined by the user, and for circular dovetails, the user must also determine the inner diameter and bore diameter. These quantities can vary for dovetails of the same type. One can use the intended mating part to verify compatibility.

In order to reduce wear and simplify connections, dovetails are often machined with chamfers, recesses, and other mechanical features. Some examples of these variations are shown by the drawings below.

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Two examples of how circular male dovetails can be manufactured.

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Two examples of how circular female dovetails can be manufactured.

Standard Mechanical Interfaces on DIY Cerna^® Components

The table below gives the dovetail, optical component threads, and cage system interfaces that are present on each DIY Cerna component. If a DIY Cerna component does not have one of the standard interfaces in the table, it is not listed here. Please note that mechanical compatibility does not ensure optical compatibility. Information on optical compatibility is available from Thorlabs' web presentations.

Item #	Microscope Dovetails										Optical Component Threads^a				Cage Systems^b
Item #	95 mm	D1N	D2N	D2NB	D3N	D5N	D1T	D3T	D1Y	D5Y	C-Mount^c (1.00"-32)	SM1^d (1.035"-40)	SM30 (M30.5x0.5)	SM2^e (2.035"-40)	30 mm^d	60 mm^e
2CM1												Internal & External		Internal		Yes
2CM2												Internal & External		Internal	Yes
BSA2000^f					Female
CEA1350	Male	Female														Yes
CEA1400	Male	Female														Yes
CEA1500	Male	Female														Yes
CEA1600	Male	Female														Yes
CFB1500	Male
CSA1000	Female
CSA1001	Female											Internal			Yes
CSA1002	Female													Internal		Yes
CSA1003		Female														Yes
CSA1051	Female								Male
CSA1200^f,g																Yes
CSA1400^f							Female									Yes
CSA1500^f,h
CSA2000^f					Female									Internal		Yes
CSA2001					Female									External
CSA2100^f														Internal		Yes
CSA3000(/M)		Male
CSA3010(/M)		Male													Yes	Yes
Item #	95 mm	D1N	D2N	D2NB	D3N	D5N	D1T	D3T	D1Y	D5Y	C-Mount	SM1	SM30	SM2	30 mm	60 mm
CSC1001					Male
CSC1002					Male
CSC1003					Male
CSC2001					Male
CSD1001		Male & Female		Female
CSD1002		Male & Female									External
CSE2000		Male & Female														Yes
CSE2100		Male & Female						Female				Internal			Yes	Yes
CSE2200		Male & Female						Female				Internal			Yes	Yes
CSN100^f,i																Yes
CSN200ⁱ							Male
CSN210ⁱ							Male
CSN500^j							Male
CSN510^k							Male
CSN1201^g,i
CSN1202^g,j
CSS2001									Female
LAURE1		Male	Female
LAURE2		Male	Female
LCPN1					Male								Internal		Yes	Yes
LCPN2		Male											Internal		Yes	Yes
LCPN3		Male								Female			Internal			Yes
Item #	95 mm	D1N	D2N	D2NB	D3N	D5N	D1T	D3T	D1Y	D5Y	C-Mount	SM1	SM30	SM2	30 mm	60 mm
OPX2400(/M)		Male & Female												Internal		Yes
SM1A58			Male	Male								Internal		External	Yes
SM2A56								Male						External
TC1X			Male
WFA0150	Female
WFA1000															Yes
WFA1010												Internal			Yes
WFA1020												Internal			Yes
WFA1051												Internal			Yes
WFA1100															Yes
WFA2001		Male & Female										Internal & External
WFA2002		Male & Female										Internal			Yes
WFA4001		Male	Female
WFA4002		Male				Female
WFA4003		Male				Female
WFA4100		Male									External	Internal
WFA4101		Male									External	Internal
WFA4102		Male									External	Internal
WFA4105			Male								External
WFA4106			Male								External
WFA4107						Male					External
WFA4108						Male					External
WFA4109						Male					External
WFA4110		Male												External
WFA4111		Male												External
WFA4112				Male							External
Item #	95 mm	D1N	D2N	D2NB	D3N	D5N	D1T	D3T	D1Y	D5Y	C-Mount	SM1	SM30	SM2	30 mm	60 mm
XT95RC1(/M)	Female
XT95RC2(/M)	Female
XT95RC3(/M)	Female
XT95RC4(/M)	Female
XT95P12(/M)	Female
ZFM1020	Female
ZFM1030	Female
ZFM2020	Female
ZFM2030	Female

Thorlabs' optical component thread adapters can be used to convert between C-Mount threads, SM1 threads, SM2 threads, and virtually every other optical thread standard.
Our cage system size adapters and drop-in adapter can be used to convert between 16 mm, 30 mm, and 60 mm cage systems.
C-Mount and CS-Mount standards feature the same 1.00"-32 threads, but C-Mounts have a 5 mm longer flange-to-sensor distance.
Our 30 mm cage plates can convert between SM1 lens tubes and 30 mm cage systems.
Our 60 mm cage plates can convert between SM2 lens tubes and 60 mm cage systems.
Attach to a ZFM focusing module to add a female 95 mm dovetail.
The CSA1200 mounting arm is compatible with the CSN1201 and CSN1202 nosepieces.
This blank arm is designed for custom DIY machining for non-standard components, threads, and bores..
This nosepiece directly accepts M32 x 0.75 objective threads.
This nosepiece directly accepts M25 x 0.75 objective threads.
This nosepiece directly accepts RMS (0.800"-36) objective threads.

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Microscope Objective Lens Turret, Four Ports

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Four RMS-Threaded Objective Lens Ports
SM1-Threaded Mounting Interface
Bi-Directional Repeatability: ±2.5 µm

The OT1 is a compact objective lens turret with four RMS (0.800"-36)-threaded ports. The aluminum housing has steel inserts at critical points to ensure the durability and precision of the detent mechanism, which reproducibly positions the objective lenses with a high degree of accuracy. The mounting interface for the OT1 objective lens turret has SM1 (1.035"-40) threading so that it can be easily integrated into custom imaging systems built using Thorlabs' Lens Tube and Cage Systems. To mount the OT1 turret in a cage system, use a CP02(/M) or CP02T(/M) for a 30 mm cage system and an LCP02(/M) for a 60 mm cage system.

Cerna® Microscope Objective Turrets, Five Ports

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Item #	CSN500	CSN510
Number of Objectives	Five
Objective Threads	M25 x 0.75	RMS
Parcentricity, Single Position^a	±10 µm
Parcentricity, All Positions^b	±40 µm
Parfocality, Single Position^c	±2 µm
Parfocality, All Positions^d	±10 µm
Required Mounting Arm	CSA1400 Mounting Arm

Maximum deviation for a single position after a full rotation of the nosepiece.
Measured using 40X objective.
Maximum deviation from center of FOV when moving from one position to the next. Measured using 4X and 40X objectives. System alignment optimized for 4X and 40X at starting position.
Maximum Z axis deviation for a single position after multiple rotations. Measured using 40X objective.
Maximum Z axis deviation of all positions compared to position 1. Measured using 40X objective.

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The CSN510 Nosepiece mounted with the CSA1400 arm in a DIY Cerna System.

Five RMS- or M25 x 0.75-Threaded Objective Lens Ports
D1T Dovetail Mounting Interface for Compatibility with the CSA1400 Mounting Arm
Bi-Directional Repeatability: ±40 µm

These nosepieces hold five objectives in DIY Cerna systems. They are ideal for constructing systems that require multiple low- and high-magnification objectives. The objective turret's housing and threads are made from lead-free bronze, with an aluminum back plate. The precision detent mechanism is designed with a hardened 440C stainless steel ball on a cantilever spring that engages the grooves machined into the bronze housing. The detent mechanism can position the objective lenses with a bi-directional repeatability of ±40 µm. The table to the right gives performance specifications for the turrets when integrated into well aligned systems, where all components are aligned horizontally and vertically to the optical axis. Every nosepiece is tested and shipped with a data sheet.

The CSN500 nosepiece is compatible with M25 x 0.75-threaded objectives, while the CSN510 accepts RMS (0.800"-36)-threaded objectives. We do not recommend using thread adapters with these holders because centricity misalignments may occur.

Each nosepiece has a male D1T dovetail and can be attached to a motorized focusing module via the CSA1400 Mounting Arm (sold separately). Recessed magnets on the CSA1400 arm mate to the bellows included with Cerna microscope bodies with epi-illumination arms, creating a light-tight optical path between the nosepiece and the epi-illumination arm. On a DIY Cerna System, the nosepiece should be mounted with the dovetail facing away, so the nosepiece tilts upward, as shown to the lower right.

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The objectives can be changed by manually rotating the front face of the nosepiece.

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The CSN510 is shown with objectives of increasing magnification.

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The back of each nosepiece has a D1T dovetail. This dovetail is used to attach to the CSA1400 Mounting Arm.

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