Two-step phase-shifting fluorescence incoherent holographic microscopy.

Fluorescence holographic microscope (FINCHSCOPE) is a motionless fluorescence holographic imaging technique based on Fresnel incoherent correlation holography (FINCH) that shows promise in reconstructing three-dimensional fluorescence images of biological specimens with three holograms. We report a developing two-step phase-shifting method that reduces the required number of holograms from three to two. Using this method, we resolved microscopic fluorescent beads that were three-dimensionally distributed at different depths with two interferograms captured by a CCD camera. The method enables the FINCHSCOPE to work in conjunction with the frame-straddling technique and significantly enhance imaging speed.