Using axicons for depth discrimination in excitation-emission laser scanning imaging systems

Besides generating good approximations to zero-order Bessel beams, an axicon lens coupled to a spatial filter can be used to collect light while preserving information on the depth coordinate of the source location. To demonstrate the principle, we describe an experimental excitation-emission fluorescence imaging system that uses an axicon twice: to generate an excitation Bessel beam and to collect the emitted light.