Towards microscopic resolution in holoscopy

Holoscopy is a new imaging approach combining digital holography and full-field Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography. The interference pattern between light scattered by a sample and a defined reference wave is recorded and processed numerically. During reconstruction numerical refocusing is applied, overcoming the limitation of the focal depth and thus a uniform, diffraction limited lateral resolution over the whole measurement depth can be obtained. The advantage of numerical refocusing becomes especially significant for imaging at high numerical apertures (NAs). We use a high-resolution setup based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with an high-resolution microscope objective (NA = 0.75). For reliable reconstruction of a sample volume the Rayleigh length of the microscope objective and the axial resolution, given by the spectral range of the light source, need to be matched. For a 0.75 NA objective a tunable light source with a sweeping range of ! 300nm is required. Here we present as a first step a tunable Ti:sapphire laser with a tuning range of 187 nm. By characterizing the spectral properties of the Ti:sapphire laser and determining the axial point spread function we demonstrate the feasibility of this light source for high-resolution holoscopy.