Self calibration of sensorless adaptive optical microscopes

We present a self-calibrating scheme for microscopes using model-based wavefront sensorless adaptive optics. Unlike previous methods, this scheme permits the calibration of system aberration modes without the need for a separate wavefront sensor or interferometer. Basis modes are derived from the deformable mirror influence functions and an image cross-correlation method is used to remove image displacement effects from these modes. Image based measurements are used to derive an optimum modal representation from the displacement-free basis modes. These new modes are insensitive to system misalignments and the shape of the illumination profile. We demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of these optimal modes in a third harmonic generation (THG) microscope. [DOI: http: //dx.doi.org/10.2971/jeos.2011.11045]