Discrete continuous-phase superresolving filters.

A new type of phase-only superresolving pupil filter with a discrete continuous-phase profile is presented that is a combination of discrete multilevel-phase modulation and continuous-phase modulation. This type of filter can achieve better superresolution performance than the continuous-phase filters reported in Opt. Lett. 28, 607 (2003). Therefore, with regard to the superresolution effect, this type of filter deserves study for practical applications. More importantly, the diffraction performance of this type of filter can explain the effect of a discrete-phase filter illuminated with a continuous wave front, whose superresolving performance cannot be analyzed with previous superresolution methods.