Super high resolution for long-range imaging

A new optical system with a resolution that is superior to the resolution of the usual optical systems with diffraction limit is presented. We introduce a newly generated narrow light beam that propagates for a long range while almost maintaining its beam width and show that the beam width is narrower than that of the diffraction limit of normal optics. Thus a super high resolution is achieved for a long range, e.g., a range of a few kilometers, by the use of a 10-cm-diameter telescope. The high resolution for long-range imaging can be obtained by a Galilean telescope with a negative eyepiece that has a spherical aberration. We demonstrate theoretically high-resolution imaging by using simple objects and assuming a telescope 10 cm in diameter and a visible wavelength. A comparison of simulation results by the conventional optical system and by the special optical system clearly shows the superiority of the new system. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America.