Correcting field-dependent aberrations with nanoscale accuracy in three-dimensional single-molecule localization microscopy.

The localization of single fluorescent molecules enables the imaging of molecular structure and dynamics with subdiffraction precision and can be extended to three dimensions using point spread function (PSF) engineering. However, the nanoscale accuracy of localization throughout a 3D single-molecule microscope's field of view has not yet been rigorously examined. By using regularly spaced subdiffraction apertures filled with fluorescent dyes, we reveal field-dependent aberrations as large as 50-100 nm and show that they can be corrected to less than 25 nm over an extended 3D focal volume. We demonstrate the applicability of this technique for two engineered PSFs, the double-helix PSF and the astigmatic PSF. We expect these results to be broadly applicable to 3D single-molecule tracking and superresolution methods demanding high accuracy.