We describe work over recent years, in particular with the group of Professor Bertero at the University of Genoa and the optical storage group at Philips Laboratories Eindhoven, to increase the resolution of optical imaging systems. In particular, we are interested in scanning systems, such as the confocal microscope, using both coherent and incoherent fluorescent light, and the optical disc.
We will show how the application of inverse-problem theory allows us to to achieve increases in resolution in high-aperture confocal fluorescence microscopy, using specially calculated image-plane masks, which can reach nearly twice the conventional Rayleigh limit. Within a “Future Emerging Technology” programme of the European Union we have found that the use of such masks in optical disc systems in either the image- or the pupil-plane can give point spread functions up to twice as sharp as in the present CD/DVD systems and we will discuss the potential storage capacity gains.
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