  We study theoretically and experimentally coherent imaging of surface plasmon
polaritons using either leakage radiation microscopy through a thin metal film
or interference microscopy through a thick metal film. Using a rigorous modal
formalism based on scalar Whittaker potentials we develop a systematic
analytical and vectorial method adapted to the analysis of coherent imaging
involving surface plasmon polaritons. The study includes geometrical
aberrations due index mismatch which played an important role in the
interpretation of recent experiments using leakage radiation microscopy. We
compare our theory with experiments using classical or quantum near-field
scanning optical microscopy probes and show that the approach leads to a full
interpretation of the recorded optical images.
