University of Birmingham Influence of spherical aberration on axial imaging of confocal reflection microscopy

The influence of spherical aberration on axial imaging of confocal reflection microscopy is investigated. In particular, the effects of lens aperture size and of the first three orders of spherical aberration are inspected. It is shown both theoretically and experimentally that the aberrated axial response can be improved by slightly reducing the lens aperture size. The experimental results concerning the effect of the tube length on the axial response and the aberration compensation are also given.