Single-shot Transport-of-intensity Equation Using a Wollaston Prism for Biological Samples

Abstract

The Wollaston prism (WP) has shown promise in enabling single-shot transport-of-intensity equation (ssTIE) measurements, facilitating efficient phase retrieval in microscopy. The 1-degree prism which produces the minor beam-separation angle is used to prevent distortions. An optical-glass plate is employed in the duplicated beam path to introduce defocusing. This configuration is also advantageous when aligning the beams laterally caused by the refraction of the optical-glass plate, thus allowing another method for single-shot measurements. We applied the proposed method to image the red blood cells (RBCs), demonstrating that the proposed method could be useful in various biological and medical applications.