Embodiments of the invention provide a photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) system for observing an object. The PAM system includes an optical pickup head, an ultrasonic transducer, and an image generation unit. The optical pickup head emits a laser beam to the object, generates a servo signal based on a reflective light beam received from the object, and positions a focus of the laser beam onto the object based on the servo signal. The ultrasonic transducer detects laser-induced ultrasonic waves leaving the object to generate a PAM imaging signal. The image generation unit generates a PAM image of the object based on the PAM imaging signal.