Vol. 33, Issue 2-3, pp. 381-389

Abstract

Confocal imaging by a holographic confocal microscope is based on the real-time incoherent holography. Besides the image amplitude, the image phase is inherently reconstructed. In this paper, we demonstrate that the phase image component can be converted into the height map of the specimen surface, and, in this way, we can measure the surface profile with the precision of several nanometers. The possible ambiguity in the height determination of large height steps is overcome owing to the depth-discrimination property of the microscope. The axial resolution required for this purpose is achieved using broadband illumination.