Full-field optical coherence microscopy with optimized ultrahigh spatial resolution

Full-field optical coherence microscopy (FF-OCM) with isotropic spatial resolution of 0.5 μm (in water), at 700 nm center wavelength, is reported. A theoretical study of the FF-OCM axial response is carried out for maximizing the axial resolution of the system, considering the effect of optical dispersion. The lateral resolution is optimized by using water-immersion microscope objectives with a numerical aperture of 1.2. This ultrahigh-resolution FF-OCM system is applied to animal and human skin tissue imaging, revealing ultra-fine in-depth structures at the sub-cellular level.