Abstract
Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy is able to image fluorescence labeled samples with nanometer scale resolution. STED microscopy is typically a point-scanning method, limited by the high intensity requirement of the depletion beam. With the development of high peak power lasers, two dimensional parallel STED microscopy has been developed. Here, we develop the theoretical basis for extending STED microscopy to three dimensional imaging in parallel. This method uses structured illumination (SI) to generates a three dimensional depletion pattern. Compared to the two dimensional parallel STED microscopy, the 3D SI-STED microscopy generates intensity modulation along the light propagation direction without requiring higher laser power. This method not only achieves axial super-resolution of STED microscopy but also greatly reduces photobleaching and photodamage for 3D volumetric imaging.