We demonstrate an innovative technique based on the Pancharatnam-Berry phase that can be used to determine whether an optical system characterized by a Jones matrix is homogeneous or inhomogeneous, containing orthogonal or nonorthogonal eigenpolarizations, respectively. Homogeneous systems have a symmetric geometric phase morphology showing line dislocations and sets of polarization states with an equal geometric phase. In contrast, the morphology of inhomogeneous systems exhibits phase singularities, where the Pancharatnam-Berry phase is undetermined. The results show an alternative to extract polarization properties such as diattenuation and retardance, and can be used to study the transformation of space-variant polarized beams.

We present a technically simple implementation of quantitative phase imaging in confocal microscopy based on synthetic optical holography with sinusoidal-phase reference waves. Using a Mirau interference objective and low-amplitude vertical sample vibration with a piezo-controlled stage, we record synthetic holograms on commercial confocal microscope (Nikon, model: A1R; Zeiss: model: LSM-880), from which quantitative phase images are reconstructed. We demonstrate our technique by stain-free imaging of cervical (HeLa), ovarian (ES-2) cancer cells and stem cell (mHAT9a) samples. Our technique has the potential to extend fluorescence imaging applications in confocal microscopy by providing label-free cell finding, monitoring cell morphology as well as non-perturbing long-time observation of live cells based on quantitative phase contrast.

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