Sensitivity of remote focusing microscopes to magnification mismatch (article)

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this recordThe dataset associated with this article is available in ORE at https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.2943Remote focusing (RF) is a technique that greatly extends the aberration-free axial scan range of an optical microscope. To maximise the diffraction limited depth range in an RF system, the magnification of the relay lenses should be such that the pupil planes of the objectives are accurately mapped on to each other. In this paper we study the tolerance of the RF system to magnification mismatch and quantify the amount of residual spherical aberration present at different focusing depths. We observe that small deviations from ideal magnification results in increased amounts of residual spherical aberration terms leading to a reduction in the diffracted limited range. For high numerical aperture objectives, the simulation predicts a 50% decrease in the diffracted limited range for 1% magnification mismatch. The simulation has been verified against an experimental RF system with ideal and non-ideal magnifications. Experimentally confirmed predictions also provide a valuable empirical method of determining when a system is close to the ideal phase matching condition, based on the sign of the spherical aberration on either side of focus.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC