Superresolving scanning optical microscopy using holographic optical processing

Two novel superrresolving scanning microscopes, one of which uses coherent imaging and the other incoherent imaging, are described. The optical arrangement used in the coherent microscope is similar to that in a scan-ning confocal microscope with the detector pinhole replaced by a special holographic mask, a Fourier lens, and a pinhole. The incoherent design uses two intensity-transmittance masks, two integrating detectors, and an electronic subtractor. The design of the microscopes is based on the results of singular-system theory, and the mask forms are calculated by means of this analysis. These arrangements obviate the need for an array of detectors to implement singular-system processing, and in the coherent case direct phase measurement is no longer required. Experimental results are presented that demonstrate a significant resolution improvement for a one-dimensional low-numerical-aperture coherent microscope. 1