We introduce and demonstrate a new microscopy concept: imaging interferometric microscopy (IIM), which is related to holography, synthetic-aperture imaging, and off-axis-dark-field illumination techniques. IIM is a wavelength-division multiplex approach to image formation that combines multiple images covering different spatial-frequency regions to form a composite image with a resolution much greater than that permitted by the same optical system using conventional techniques. This new type of microscopy involves both off-axis coherent illumination and reinjection of appropriate zero-order reference beams. Images demonstrate high resolution, comparable with that of a high-numerical-aperture (NA) objective, while they retain the long working distance, the large depth of field, and the large field of view of a low-NA objective. A Fourier-optics model of IIM is in good agreement with the experiment.

The linear systems optical resolution limit is a dense grating pattern at a lambda/2 pitch or a critical dimension (resolution) of lambda/4. However, conventional microscopy provides a (Rayleigh) resolution of only ~ 0.6lambda/NA, approaching lambda/1.67 as NA ?lambda1. A synthetic aperture approach to reaching the lambda/4 linear-systems limit, extending previous developments in imaginginterferometric microscopy, is presented. Resolution of non-periodic 180-nm features using 633-nm illumination (lambda/3.52) and of a 170-nm grating (lambda/3.72) is demonstrated. These results are achieved with a 0.4-NA optical system and retain the working distance, field-of-view, and depth-of-field advantages of low-NA systems while approaching ultimate resolution limits.

Structured illumination applied to imaging interferometric microscopy (IIM) allows extension of the resolution limit of low numerical aperture objective lenses to ultimate linear systems limits (

No abstract