Overcoming the classical Rayleigh diffraction limit by controlling two-point correlations of partially coherent light sources

In classical optical imaging, the Rayleigh diffraction limit d(R) is defined as the minimum resolvable separation between two points under incoherent light illumination. In this paper, we analyze the minimum resolvable separation between two points under partially coherent beam illumination. We find that the image resolution of two points can overcome the classic Rayleigh diffraction limit through manipulating the correlation function of a partially coherent source, and the image resolution, which independent of the specified positions of two points in the object plane, can in principle reach the value of 0.17d(R). Furthermore, we carry out an experimental demonstration of sub-Rayleigh imaging of a 1951 USAF resolution target via engineering the correlation function of the illuminating beam. Our experimental results are in agreement with our theoretical predictions. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement