title: Numerical simulation of partially coherent broadband optical imaging using the finite-difference time-domain method.
abstract: Rigorous numerical modeling of optical systems has attracted interest in diverse research areas ranging from biophotonics to photolithography. We report the full-vector electromagnetic numerical simulation of a broadband optical imaging system with partially coherent and unpolarized illumination. The scattering of light from the sample is calculated using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) numerical method. Geometrical optics principles are applied to the scattered light to obtain the intensity distribution at the image plane. Multilayered object spaces are also supported by our algorithm. For the first time, numerical FDTD calculations are directly compared to and shown to agree well with broadband experimental microscopy results.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Department, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA. capoglu@ieee.org
authors.forename: İlker R
authors.initials: İR
authors.lastname: Çapoğlu
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Jeremy D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Hariharan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.forename: Allen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taflove
authors.forename: Vadim
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Backman
mesh_terms: D005898:Glass; D008027:Light; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013997:Time Factors