3D microscopic imaging at 193nm with single beam Fresnel intensity sampling and iterative phase retrieval

Abstract

3D imaging requires the retrieval of both amplitude and phase of the wavefront interacting with the object. Quantitative phase contrast imaging technique like digital holography uses the interference of object and a known reference wavefront for whole field reconstructions. And for higher lateral resolution, uses of shorter wavelengths become necessary. For short wavelength sources, due to short coherence lengths, it becomes very difficult to implement a two-beam interferometric setup. We have developed a technique for reconstructing the amplitude and phase of object wavefront from the volume diffraction field by sampling it at several axial positions and implementing the scalar diffraction integral iteratively. This technique is extended to 3D microscopic imaging at 193 nanometers.