Polarization structuring for focal volume shaping in high-resolution microscopy

We examined pupil-plane polarization structures for high numerical-aperture objective lenses that generate light distributions at the focal volume similar to those produced by purely radial and azimuthal polarizations. The engineered structures can be dynamically generated with spatial light modulators without the need for additional moving parts in the optical system. Computer simulations show that the method can be considered a valuable addition to the tools available for controlling the interaction of light with matter at the focal region.

[1]  Novotny,et al.  Orientational imaging of single molecules by annular illumination , 2000, Physical review letters.

[2]  S C Tidwell,et al.  Generating radially polarized beams interferometrically. , 1990, Applied optics.

[3]  B. Hecht,et al.  Probing confined fields with single molecules and vice versa , 2001, Journal of microscopy.

[4]  M Stalder,et al.  Linearly polarized light with axial symmetry generated by liquid-crystal polarization converters. , 1996, Optics letters.

[5]  Kathleen S. Youngworth,et al.  Focusing of high numerical aperture cylindrical-vector beams. , 2000, Optics express.

[6]  Michel E. Marhic,et al.  Low‐order TE0q operation of a CO2 laser for transmission through circular metallic waveguides , 1981 .

[7]  S. Hell,et al.  Z-polarized confocal microscopy. , 2001, Journal of biomedical optics.

[8]  Steven G. Johnson,et al.  The Design and Implementation of FFTW3 , 2005, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[9]  Lukas Novotny,et al.  Programmable vector point-spread function engineering. , 2006, Optics express.

[10]  C. McCutchen,et al.  Generalized aperture and the three-dimensional diffraction image: erratum , 2002 .

[11]  C. Sheppard,et al.  Focusing of pseudoradial polarized beams. , 2005, Optics express.

[12]  Dieter W. Pohl,et al.  Operation of a Ruby Laser in the Purely Transverse Electric Mode TE01 , 1972 .

[13]  A. Bouhelier,et al.  Near-field second-harmonic generation induced by local field enhancement. , 2003, Physical review letters.

[14]  R. Dorn,et al.  The focus of light – theoretical calculation and experimental tomographic reconstruction , 2001 .

[15]  C. McCutchen.  Generalized Aperture and the Three-Dimensional Diffraction Image , 1964 .

[16]  G Leuchs,et al.  Sharper focus for a radially polarized light beam. , 2003, Physical review letters.

[17]  Neil,et al.  A wavefront generator for complex pupil function synthesis and point spread function engineering , 2000, Journal of microscopy.

[18]  Satoshi Kawata,et al.  Detection and characterization of longitudinal field for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy , 2004 .

[19]  D. Courjon,et al.  A versatile and stable device allowing the efficient generation of beams with radial, azimuthal or hybrid polarizations , 2005 .