Depth of field extension with spherical optics

The introduction of spherical aberration in a lens design can be used to extend the depth of field while preserving resolution up to half the maximum diffraction-limited spatial frequency. Two low-power microscope objectives are shown that achieve an extension of +/- 0.88 lambda in terms of wavefront error, which is shown to be comparable to alternative techniques but without the use of special phase elements. The lens performance is azimuth-independent and achromatic over the visible range. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.