Lensless digital holographic microscope with light-emitting diode illumination

We demonstrate the operation of a digital in-line microscope with LED illumination. We show with a practical example that, for typical setups, the limited temporal coherence and the spatial incoherence of the source do not affect the resolving power of the system. On the contrary, important advantages are obtained in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and alignment simplification. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.