Diffraction of light by an opaque sphere 2: Image formation and resolution considerations

This paper takes the theoretical results of the first paper [Appl. Opt. 29, 4646 (1990)] and develops the idea of image formation using the diffractive process from Ref. 1 in terms of the point-spread function and the transfer function for both coherent and incoherent light. Theoretical and experimental comparisons are made for two-point resolution and imaging of extended objects. In addition, image formation with a sphere is compared with conventional image formation with a lens.