Widefield microscopy with infinite depth of field and enhanced lateral resolution based on an image inverting interferometer

We present an interferometric method to gain a theoretically infinite depth of field. Simultaneously, this technique yields an enhanced lateral resolution. This can be achieved by measuring the complex coherence function using an image inverting interferometer. A mathematical explanation of our proposal is given and first experimental results, demonstrating the depth of field as well as the enhanced lateral resolution, are presented.