3D differential phase contrast microscopy

We demonstrate three-dimensional (3D) optical phase and amplitude reconstruction based on coded source illumination using a programmable LED array. Multiple stacks of images along the optical axis are computed from recorded intensities captured by multiple images under off-axis illumination. Based on the first Born approximation, a linear differential phase contrast (DPC) model is built between 3D complex index of refraction and the intensity stacks. Therefore, 3D volume reconstruction can be achieved via a fast inversion method, without the intermediate 2D phase retrieval step. Our system employs spatially partially coherent illumination, so the transverse resolution achieves twice the NA of coherent systems, while axial resolution is also improved 2x as compared to holographic imaging.