title: Effect of ultrashort pulsed illumination on foci caused by a Fresnel zone plate.
abstract: The focal distribution produced by a zone plate under ultrashort pulsed laser illumination is investigated under the Fresnel approximation. A comparison of the diffraction patterns in the focal region between pulsed and continuous-wave illumination shows that the focal shape produced by a zone plate can be significantly altered when an ultrashort pulse is shorter than 100 fs. In particular, the focal width in the axial and the transverse directions is increased by approximately 5 and 85%, respectively,from continuous-wave illumination to 10-fs pulsed illumination.
authors.affiliation: Center for Micro-Photonics, School of Biophysical Sciences and Electronic Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, P.O. Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia.
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ashman
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gu