Opt Lett. 2022 Jun 15;47(12):3031-3034. doi: 10.1364/OL.460949.
Point spread function (PSF) engineering is an important technique to encode the properties (e.g., 3D positions, color, and orientation) of a single molecule in the shape of the PSF, often with the help of a programmable phase modulator. A deformable mirror (DM) is currently the most widely used phase modulator for fluorescence detection as it shows negligible photon loss. However, it relies on careful calibration for precise wavefront control. Therefore, design of an optimal PSF not only relies on the theoretical calculation of the maximum information content, but also the physical behavior of the phase modulator, which is often ignored during the optimization process. Here, we develop a framework for PSF engineering which could generate a device specific optimal PSF for 3D super-resolution imaging using a DM. We use our method to generate two types of PSFs with depths of field comparable to the widely used astigmatism and tetrapod PSFs, respectively. We demonstrate the superior performance of the DM specific optimal PSF over the conventional astigmatism and tetrapod PSF both theoretically and experimentally.
点扩散函数（PSF）工程是一种将单个分子的特性（例如 3D 位置、颜色和方向）编码为 PSF 形状的重要技术，通常借助可编程相位调制器来实现。在荧光检测中，变形镜（DM）是目前应用最广泛的相位调制器，因为它几乎没有光子损失。然而，它依赖于精确的波前控制的仔细校准。因此，最优 PSF 的设计不仅依赖于最大信息量的理论计算，还依赖于相位调制器的物理行为，而这在优化过程中往往被忽略。在这里，我们开发了一种 PSF 工程框架，该框架可以使用 DM 为 3D 超分辨率成像生成特定于设备的最优 PSF。我们使用该方法分别生成了两种景深与广泛使用的彗差和四脚形 PSF 相当的 PSF。我们从理论和实验上证明了 DM 特定最优 PSF 相对于传统彗差和四脚形 PSF 的优越性能。
