Light-sheet microscopy using an Airy beam

Single-photon Airy beam excitation in light-sheet fluorescence microscopy combined with a simple deconvolution allows high-contrast imaging over a large field of view and minimal redundancy in illumination. Light-sheet microscopy facilitates rapid, high-contrast, volumetric imaging with minimal sample exposure. However, the rapid divergence of a traditional Gaussian light sheet restricts the field of view (FOV) that provides innate subcellular resolution. We show that the Airy beam innately yields high contrast and resolution up to a tenfold larger FOV. In contrast to the Bessel beam, which also provides an increased FOV, the Airy beam's characteristic asymmetric excitation pattern results in all fluorescence contributing positively to the contrast, enabling a step change for light-sheet microscopy.