System and method for single-beam internal reflection tomography

A method for generating a tomographic image of an object comprising:

• illuminating the object with incident evanescent waves,
• measuring scattering data from the object wherein the scattering data is related to the object by an integral operator, and
• reconstructing the tomographic image by executing a prescribed mathematical algorithm, determined with reference to the integral operator, on the scattering data to generate the tomographic image with subwavelength resolution.

A system for generating a tomographic image of an object comprising:

• a source for probing the object with incident evanescent waves,
• a detector for detecting waves scattered by the object, and
• a processor for reconstructing the tomographic image by executing a prescribed mathematical algorithm with reference to the incident waves and the scattered waves to generate the tomographic image with subwavelength resolution.

A system for generating a tomographic image of an object comprising:

• a source for illuminating the object with incident evanescent waves,
• a detector for measuring scattering data from the object wherein the scattering data is related to the object by an integral operator, and
• a processor for reconstructing the tomographic image by executing a prescribed mathematical algorithm, determined with reference to the integral operator, on the scattering data to generate the tomographic image with subwavelength resolution.