Open AccessImaging with a longitudinal electric field in confocal laser scanning microscopy to enhance spatial resolution
Author(s) -
Yuichi Kozawa,
Ryota Sakashita,
Yuuki Uesugi,
Shunichi Sato
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.396778
Subject(s) - optics , confocal , confocal microscopy , microscopy , polarization (electrochemistry) , scanning confocal electron microscopy , materials science , pinhole (optics) , laser , laser scanning , image resolution , light sheet fluorescence microscopy , transverse plane , signal (programming language) , point spread function , physics , chemistry , computer science , structural engineering , programming language , engineering
The longitudinal electric field produced by focusing a radially polarized beam is applied in confocal laser scanning microscopy by introducing a higher-order transverse mode, combined with a technique of polarization conversion for signal detection. This technique improves signal detection corresponding to the longitudinally polarized field under a small confocal pinhole, enabling full utilization of the small focal spot characteristic of the longitudinal field. Detailed numerical and experimental studies demonstrate the enhanced spatial resolution in confocal imaging that detects a scattering signal using a higher-order radially polarized beam. Our method can be widely applied in various imaging techniques that detect coherent signals such as second-harmonic generation microscopy.