Zeeman laser-scanning confocal microscopy in turbid media

A novel Zeeman laser-scanning confocal microscope (ZLSCM) is proposed. It h as the same configuration as the conventional laser-scanning confocal micro scope (LSCM) in which a Zeeman laser in conjunction with a Glan-Thompson an alyzer is used. In our system, the analyzer with the bandpass filter, which act simultaneously as a polarization gate and a coherence gate, enhance th e collection efficiency of the weak-scattering photons and simultaneously s uppress the multiple-scattering photons. The improvement in depth resolutio n of a ZLSCM in a scattering medium compared with that of a conventional LS CM is discussed and demonstrated experimentally. (C) 2001 Optical Society o f America.