Two-dimensional demonstration of Wigner phase-retrieval microscopy in the STEM configuration

Abstract Following earlier work [S.L. Friedman and J.M. Rodenburg, J. Phys. D 25 (1992) 147] which has shown, using light optics in one dimension, that a poor lens of limited aperture (such as that encountered in both electron and X-ray microscopy) need not limit spatial resolution, we present here experimental proof that the method can be straightforwardly extended to two-dimensional images. We employ a scanning optical microscope in the comfiguration of the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) to solve for the specimen structure at “super-resolution” for (1) a two-dimensional magnitude specimen, (2) an extended two-dimensional magnitude specimen and (3) a pure strong-phase specimen.