Scan-less ultra-high z-resolution confocal microscopy by spectrally-encoded illumination of optical frequency comb

Abstract

In this paper, we proposed a novel confocal microscopy that required no mechanical laser scanner but provided two-dimensional image with high depth resolution. The scan-less confocal microscopy was realized by employing a wavelength/space dimensional conversion of optical-frequency-comb, in which the spatial information was encoded to the individual comb mode by using two-dimensional dispersers. To decode the spatial information using the encoded optical-frequency-comb spectrum, we performed dual-optical-frequency-comb spectroscopy. We constructed a scan-less confocal microscopy system employing a diffractive grating and a virtually imaged phased array as two-dimensional disperser, and provided a proof-of-principle demonstration of the proposed method.