stimulated emission depletion microscopy (sted) has become one of the powerful research tools in the field of superresolution microscopy. as its spatial resolution is gained by phase modulation of the light field, the aberrations produced by optical systems and specimens may have negative impact on the focusing properties of two beams, especially the sted beam, resulting in reduced spatial resolution. in thick samples, the aberration effect may play an even more critical role in affecting spatial resolution. here, we report our recent effort in correcting the aberration in sted microscopy by using coherent optical adaptive technique (coat) so that the resolution can be improved. © 2016 spie.