Diffraction barrier breakthrough in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy by additional probe-beam-induced phonon depletion

Journal Article · Tue Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.83.023830· OSTI ID:21537240

Wei, Liu ^[1]; Hanben, Niu ^[2]

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1. College of Precison Instrument and Opto-electronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China)
2. Institute of Optoelectronics, Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Deviced and Systems of Education Ministry, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060 (China)

We provide an approach to significantly break the diffraction limit in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy via an additional probe-beam-induced photon depletion (APIPD). The additional probe beam, whose profile is doughnut shaped and whose wavelength is different from the Gaussian probe beam, depletes the phonons to yield an unwanted anti-Stokes signal within a certain bandwidth at the rim of the diffraction-limited spot. When the Gaussian probe beam that follows immediately arrives, no anti-Stokes signal is generated in this region, resembling stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, and the spot-generating useful anti-Stokes signals by this beam are substantially suppressed to a much smaller dimension. Scanning the spot renders three-dimensional, label-free, and chemically selective CARS images with subdiffraction resolution. Also, resolution-enhanced images of the molecule, specified by its broadband even-total CARS spectral signals not only by one anti-Stokes signal for its special chemical bond, can be obtained by employing a supercontinuum source.

• OSTI ID: 21537240
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 83, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.83.023830; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
BEAMS
CHEMICAL BONDS
DIFFRACTION
IMAGES
MICROSCOPY
MOLECULES
PHONONS
PHOTONS
PROBES
RAMAN EFFECT
RESOLUTION
SIGNALS
STIMULATED EMISSION
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
WAVELENGTHS
BOSONS
COHERENT SCATTERING
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EMISSION
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
QUASI PARTICLES
SCATTERING