Coherent laser scanning diffraction microscopy

Coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) is a promising approach to high-resolution x-ray microscopy. While CDI typically has a rather limited field of view, this problem can be solved by ptychography, a technique for which an extended object is raster scanned by a compact coherent illumination probe. Significant overlap of illumination for adjacent scan points allows then a self-consistent reconstruction from the entirety of collected coherent diffraction patterns. However, current reconstruction schemes require accurate a priori knowledge of the probe. Our recently developed new algorithm for ptychographic data sets allows us to simultaneously reconstruct both object and illuminating probe. We demonstrate the application of the new method in a test experiment with visible laser light showing that intricate illumination functions can be retrieved reliably. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.