Generation of an axially super-resolved quasi-spherical focal spot using an amplitude-modulated radially polarized beam

An axially super-resolved quasi-spherical focal spot can be generated by focusing an amplitude-modulated radially polarized beam through a high numerical aperture objective. A method based on the unique depolarization properties of a circular focus is proposed to design the amplitude modulation. The generated focal spot shows a ratio of x:y:z = 1:1:1.48 for the normalized FWHM in three dimensions, compared to that of x:y:z = 1:0.74:1.72 under linear polarization (in the x direction) illumination. Moreover, the focusable light efficiency of the designed amplitude-modulated beam is 65%, which is more than 3 times higher than the optimized case under linear polarization and thus make the amplitude-modulated radial polarization beam more suitable for a wide range of applications. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America