Fig. 5: Rediscovery of STED microscopy10 within highly parameterized optical systems.
From: Automated discovery of experimental designs in super-resolution microscopy with XLuminA
a Discovered optical topology. The parameter space (∼4 million optical parameters) is defined by 3 super-SLMs (i.e., 6 SLMs) of (824 × 824) pixel resolution and a computational pixel size of 6.06 μm, 9 beam splitter ratios (BS), 8 distances (z) and 3 wave plates (with variable phase retardance η and orientation angle θ). The minimum value of the loss function is demonstrated in detector #2. The setup topology is retrieved from detector #2 following the identified beam splitter ratios across the system. The identified optical parameters correspond to: the beam splitter ratios, in [Transmittance, Reflectance] pairs: BS#1: [0.000, 0.999], BS#2: [0.201, 0.799], BS#5: [0.000, 0.999], and BS#6: [0.999, 0.000]. The wave plates, in radians (1): η = − 1.39, θ = − 1.64, and (2): η = − 1.61, θ = − 0.86. The propagation distances (in cm) are z1 = 59.52, z2 = 10.14, z3 = 76.36, z4 = 17.93, z5 = 37.07, z6 = 65.95, and z7 = 38.68. b Discovered phase patterns for sSLM #1 and sSLM #2. The speckle-like patterns of SLMs' phase masks are not detrimental to robustness. c Radial intensity profile, ∣Ex∣2 + ∣Ey∣2, in horizontal beam section: excitation (green), depletion (orange), and super-resolution effective STED beam (dashed blue line). The data corresponding to the original STED experiment - i.e., computed using a spiral phase mask - are indicated with dotted lines. Lateral position indicates lateral distance from the optical axis.
