Superresolution digital holographic microscopy for three-dimensional samples

An approach that allows superresolution imaging of three-dimensional (3-D) samples by numerical refocusing is presented in the field of digital holographic microscopy. Based on the object's spectrum shift produced by tilted illumination, we present a time multiplexing superresolved approach to overcome the Abbe's diffraction limit. The proposed approach uses a microscope in a Mach-Zehnder interferometric architecture with the particularity that the output plane does not coincide with the image plane. Thus, a set of off-axis non-image plane holograms are sequentially recorded for every tilted beam used in the illumination stage. After that and by using simple digital post-processing and numerical reconstruction, a 3-D superresolved sample volume is reconstructed slice-by-slice in terms of the definition of a synthetic aperture (SA) that expands the cutoff frequency of the microscope lens. Experimental results showing the capabilities of the proposed approach are presented. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America