Ptychographic phase microscope based on high-speed modulation on the illumination beam.

A type of ptychography-based phase microscope was developed by integrating a spatial light modulator (SLM) into a commercial wide-field light microscope. By displaying a moving pattern on the SLM to change the sample illumination and record the diffraction intensities formed, both the modulus and phase of the transmission function of the sample could be accurately reconstructed with formulas similar to those of common ptychography. Compared with other kinds of phase microscopes, the developed microscope has several advantages, including its simple structure, high immunity to coherent noise, and low requirement for quality optics. In addition, defects in the illumination beam are also removed from the reconstructed image. Further, this microscope’s fast data acquisition ability makes it highly suitable for many applications where highly accurate quantitative phase imaging is important, such as in living cells or other fragile biological samples that cannot sustain continuous imaging over a long period of time.