Creation of a tight PSF array for scanning structured illumination via phase retrieval

Abstract

In this work, we propose a structured illumination (SI) method based on a two-photon excitation (TPE) scanning laser beam. Advantages of TPE methods include optical sectioning, low photo-toxicity, and robustness in the face of sample induced scattering. We designed a novel multi-spot point spread function (PSF) for a fast, two-photon scanning SIM microscope. Our multi-spot PSF is generated with a phase retrieval algorithm. We show how to obtain the phase distribution and then simulate the effect of this distribution on a spatial light modulator (SLM), which produces the multi-spot PSF in the object plane of the microscope. We produce simulations that show the viability of this method. The results are simulated and a multi-spot PSF scanning SIM microscope is proposed.