Axial superresolution by synthetic aperture generation

Abstract

The use of tilted illumination onto the input object in combination with time multiplexing is a useful technique to overcome the Abbe diffraction limit in imaging systems. It is based on the generation of an expanded synthetic aperture that improves the cutoff frequency (and thus the resolution limit) of the imaging system. In this paper we present an experimental validation of the fact that the generation of a synthetic aperture improves not only the lateral resolution but also the axial one. Thus, it is possible to achieve higher optical sectioning of three-dimensional (3D) objects than that defined by the theoretical resolution limit imposed by diffraction. Experimental results are provided for two different cases: a synthetic object (micrometer slide) imaged by a 0.14 numerical aperture (NA) microscope lens, and a biosample (swine sperm cells) imaged by a 0.42NA objective. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.