
Figure 3.
Vertical sections through the 3D PSFs calculated for lenses of two different NAs. The contrast has been greatly enhanced to show the weak side lobes (which are the rings of the Airy disk, viewed edge on). The small insets show the PSFs at their true contrast level. Note that vertical smearing (proportional to NA2) is much more strongly affected by the lens NA than is lateral smearing (proportional to NA).










