Deep learning based wavefront sensor for complex wavefront detection in adaptive optical microscopes

Abstract

The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (SHWS) is an essential tool for wavefront sensing in adaptive optical microscopes. However, the distorted spots induced by the complex wavefront challenge its detection performance. Here, we propose a deep learning based wavefront detection method which combines point spread function image based Zernike coefficient estimation and wavefront stitching. Rather than using the centroid displacements of each micro-lens, this method first estimates the Zernike coefficients of local wavefront distribution over each micro-lens and then stitches the local wavefronts for reconstruction. The proposed method can offer low root mean square wavefront errors and high accuracy for complex wavefront detection, and has potential to be applied in adaptive optical microscopes.