Abstract

We introduce 4Pi confocal microscopy with destructive interference of converging waves. Linear lobe deconvolution as well as nonlinear restoration of 4Pi confocal raw data with their point-spread functions (PSF’s) leads to almost-identical images, irrespective of whether the 4Pi confocal PSF relies on constructive or destructive interference. Three-dimensional imaging of microtubules of a mouse fibroblast cell yielded an axial resolution near 100-nm in both cases. Moreover, restoration of 4Pi confocal images of the same object with alternate phases is introduced as a powerful test for (nonlinear) image restoration.

© 1998 Optical Society of America

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