Electric field Monte Carlo simulation of focused stimulated emission depletion beam, radially and azimuthally polarized beams for in vivo deep bioimaging

Abstract

An electric field Monte Carlo method is used to study the focal spot of a stimulated emission depletion (STED) beam, radially and azimuthally polarized beams in a turbid medium as a function of the scattering coefficient. To consider the diffraction of light of the wave nature, the wavefront is decomposed into a set of secondary spherical subwaves according to the Huygens principle. From the simulation results, we can find that the STED beam can still form a doughnut focal spot inside the turbid medium. These simulation results are important for the feasibility study of STED microscopy for in vivo deep bioimaging. Similarly, the focal spot for an azimuthally polarized beam can also keep a doughnut spot at the focal plane in a turbid medium.