Depth-of-field extension through focal plane oscillation and variable annular pupil

Abstract

In this paper, a depth-of-field extension method is in troduced. The extension is realized by the variable annular aperture method previously proposed by the authors and focal plane oscillation method. By combining those methods, we see a synergetic effect that the depth-of-field is more extended than when each method is applied independently. The variable aperture and the focal plane oscillation are realized by a liquid crystal spatial light modulator and a deformable mirror, respectively. Simulation and experimental results are shown to verify the proposed method.