Sensitivity of remote focusing microscopes to magnification mismatch

Mohanan, S. and Corbett, A. D. (2022) Sensitivity of remote focusing microscopes to magnification mismatch. Journal of Microscopy, 288(2), pp. 95-105. (doi: 10.1111/jmi.12991) (PMID:33295652) (PMCID:PMC9786541)

Abstract

Remote focusing (RF) is a technique that greatly extends the aberration-free axial scan range of an optical microscope. To maximise the diffraction limited depth range in an RF system, the magnification of the relay lenses should be such that the pupil planes of the objectives are accurately mapped on to each other. In this paper we study the tolerance of the RF system to magnification mismatch and quantify the amount of residual spherical aberration present at different focusing depths. We observe that small deviations from ideal magnification results in increased amounts of residual spherical aberration terms leading to a reduction in the diffracted limited range. For high-numerical aperture objectives, the simulation predicts a 50% decrease in the diffracted limited range for 1% magnification mismatch. The simulation has been verified against an experimental RF system with ideal and nonideal magnifications. Experimentally confirmed predictions also provide a valuable empirical method of determining when a system is close to the ideal phase matching condition, based on the sign of the spherical aberration on either side of focus.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Research Funding: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Grant Number: EP/R021252/1.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mohanan, Ms Sharika
• Authors: Mohanan, S., and Corbett, A. D.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Journal of Microscopy
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0022-2720
• ISSN (Online): 1365-2818
• Published Online: 09 December 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Journal of Microscopy 288(2): 95-105
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
• Data DOI: 10.24378/exe.2943