Effects of Seidel aberration and light polarization on the resolution of STED imaging

The aberrations in microscope system and polarization of the input light beam directly determine the quality of the depletion patterns, which mainly affect the resolution improvement of Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) microscopy. In the paper, the influences of combining Seidel aberrations and light polarization on the depletion patterns were analyzed comprehensively. And a comparative study about the effects on the resolution was conducted. Simulation results show that the right-handed circularly polarization is the best choice for the depletion patterns in the same condition. And the serious aberration will influence the realization of super-resolution. This study could provide a reliable theoretical basis for a realization of a STED super-resolution system with less aberration.