Rayleigh criterion of resolution and light sources of different spectral composition

Abstract

The results of very simple experiments to evaluate Lord Rayleigh Resolution Criterion validity are discussed in cases of quasimonochromatic sources of small angular dimensions (LEDs) and monochromatic sources (Lasers), the emissions of which have different or equal spectral compositions, Visual observations as well as color photographs and color video recording were utilized in the experiments. The validity of the resolution criterion was confirmed when the diffraction patterns were produced using LEDs and lasers of the same color (red or green). However, when LEDs and lasers of different color were used, better resolutions than those of Rayleigh Criterion were obtained owing to the non-spectral yellow false color resulting from the overlapping of the red and green spectral colors. Therefore, the observation of the non-spectral false color implies the super-resolution process.