Rapid quantitative phase imaging for partially coherent light microscopy

Abstract

Partially coherent light provides promising advantages for imaging applications. In contrast to its completely coherent counterpart, it prevents image degradation due to speckle noise and decreases cross-talk among the imaged objects. These facts make attractive the partially coherent illumination for accurate quantitative imaging in microscopy. In this work, we present a non-interferometric technique and system for quantitative phase imaging with simultaneous determination of the spatial coherence properties of the sample illumination. Its performance is experimentally demonstrated in several examples underlining the benefits of partial coherence for practical imagining applications. The programmable optical setup comprises an electrically tunable lens and sCMOS camera that allows for high-speed measurement in the millisecond range.