Confocal Lateral Resolution
Estimate confocal lateral FWHM and a simple finite-pinhole adjustment.
Description
Confocal lateral FWHM estimation combines a diffraction scaling with a simple finite-pinhole correction.
Confocal lateral FWHM estimation combines a diffraction scaling with a simple finite-pinhole correction. The pinhole factor broadens the baseline estimate.1
Estimate confocal lateral FWHM and a simple finite-pinhole adjustment.
When to use Confocal Lateral Resolution
Use this tool to estimate confocal lateral FWHM and a simple finite-pinhole adjustment.
Prepare the optical measurements, geometry, fitted coefficients or caller-selected thresholds requested. Confirm wavelength, radius/diameter, pulse-width, angle and unit conventions before running the calculation.
How to use Confocal Lateral Resolution and understand its results
- Prepare the optical measurements, geometry, fitted coefficients or caller-selected thresholds requested. Confirm wavelength, radius/diameter, pulse-width, angle and unit conventions before running the calculation.
- Enter wavelengthNanometers, numericalAperture, pinholeAiryUnits using the field table and calculation rules, then run the tool.
- Read diffractionFwhmNanometers, pinholeAdjustedFwhmNanometers. The explanation below defines the units, signs, ordering and any flags or placeholder values.
- If the tool reports an input issue, correct the values and run it again. Apply the stated assumptions when interpreting a successfully returned result.
| Input field | Meaning | Value type; see rules below | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| wavelengthNanometers | Wavelength (nm) | number; minimum: 0 | Required |
| numericalAperture | Numerical aperture | number; minimum: 0 | Required |
| pinholeAiryUnits | Pinhole diameter (AU) | number; minimum: 0 | Required |
Enter nonnegative wavelength and pinhole size with positive numerical aperture. Return both FWHM values in nm.
baseline=0.4λ/NA; adjusted=baseline×sqrt(1+pinholeAiryUnits²/4) Units, indexing, boundary conditions and exceptional cases are defined in the calculation rules above.
| Output field | Meaning | Value type |
|---|---|---|
| diffractionFwhmNanometers | Diffraction-limited lateral FWHM (nm) | number; minimum: 0 |
| pinholeAdjustedFwhmNanometers | Pinhole-adjusted FWHM (nm) | number; minimum: 0 |
{
"input": {
"wavelengthNanometers": 500,
"numericalAperture": 1,
"pinholeAiryUnits": 0
},
"output": {
"diffractionFwhmNanometers": 200,
"pinholeAdjustedFwhmNanometers": 200
}
}Limitations and assumptions
No measured PSF, refractive-index NA constraint, aberration or full confocal imaging model is supplied.
Numeric inputs must be finite. Follow the calculation-specific rules for overflow, underflow and exceptional cases. Missing required fields, extra fields, wrong value types and violations of the calculation rules are input errors.
Alternative or Complementary methods
Use SIM Resolution Improvement: Estimate structured-illumination resolution from a measured widefield baseline and improvement factor. For a complementary task, use Spatial-Filter Pinhole: Calculate an Airy-diameter spatial-filter pinhole size with relay magnification.
References
-
Confocal Lateral Resolution — tool.io
Similar or alternative tools
- SIM Resolution Improvement
Estimate structured-illumination resolution from a measured widefield baseline and improvement factor.
- Spatial-Filter Pinhole
Calculate an Airy-diameter spatial-filter pinhole size with relay magnification.