Exceeding the limits of algorithmic self-calibrated aberration recovery in Fourier ptychography

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Fourier ptychographic microscopy is a computational imaging technique that provides quantitative phase information and high resolution over a large field-of-view. Although the technique presents numerous advantages over conventional microscopy, model mismatch due to unknown optical aberrations can significantly limit reconstruction quality. A practical way of correcting for aberrations without additional data capture is through algorithmic self-calibration, in which a pupil recovery step is embedded into the reconstruction algorithm. However, software-only aberration correction is limited in accuracy. Here, we evaluate the merits of implementing a simple, dedicated calibration procedure for applications requiring high accuracy. In simulations, we find that for a target sample reconstruction error, we can image without any aberration corrections only up to a maximum aberration magnitude of λ/40. When we use algorithmic self-calibration, we can tolerate an aberration magnitude up to λ/10 and with our proposed diffuser calibration technique, this working range is extended further to λ/3. Hence, one can trade off complexity for accuracy by using a separate calibration process, which is particularly useful for larger aberrations.