SUMMARY A new confocal scanning beam system (MACROscope) that images very large‐area specimens is described. The MACROscope uses a telecentric, f‐theta laser scan lens as an objective lens to image specimens as large as 7·5 cm × 7·5 cm in 5 s. The lateral resolution of the MACROscope is 5 μm and the axial resolution is 200 μm. When combined with a confocal microscope, a new hybrid imaging system is produced that uses the advantages of small‐area, high‐speed, high‐resolution microscopy (0·2 μm lateral and 0·4 μm axial resolution) with the large‐area, high‐speed, good‐resolution imaging of the MACROscope. The advantages of the microscope/MACROscope are illustrated in applications which include reflected‐light confocal images of biological specimens, DNA sequencing gels, latent fingerprints and photoluminescence imaging of porous silicon.

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