Direct‐view microscopy: optical sectioning strength for finite‐sized, multiple‐pinhole arrays

Abstract

Summary Direct‐view microscopes use multiple‐aperture arrays in the source and detector planes. We develop a theory for brightfleld and fluorescence direct‐view microscopy which allows us to determine the optical sectioning strength for finite‐sized, multiple‐pinhole arrays with an arbitrary distribution of apertures. We specialize to the cases of square, hexagonal and interleaving Archimedean spiral arrays and consider the implications of the array configuration on both the optical sectioning strength and the light budget.