Super-resolution confocal microscopy with structured detection

Most super-resolution microscopy methods can only be applied to incoherent imaging processes such as fluorescence imaging, but coherent image processing resolution still needs improvement. In this paper, confocal microscopy with structured detection is presented in a coherent imaging process to achieve a higher resolution with a comparably large pinhole. The approximate coherent image formation, coherent transfer function, and reconstruction process are discussed. Simulation results indicate that the width of the coherent transfer function expands in the x and y directions. The experimental results show that the resolution excels with a confocal microscope having a same-sized detector, and can be 1.7 times as large as that of a coherent wide-field microscope.