Applications
CARS and SRS Microscopy
Vibrational imaging provides chemical specificity, which is useful in biological microscopy, and pharmaceutical and material science, especially where other microscopy techniques provide ambiguous results and labels cannot be used. Spontaneous Raman scattering microscopy, while sensitive, is slow. However, its nonlinear counterparts – coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) – can be used for high-speed and high-sensitivity label-free vibrational imaging.
In CARS microscopy, two beams are used to produce radiation at a third wavelength via a vibrational level of the sample. The energy difference between the two beams can be tuned to different vibrational levels, thus providing chemical imaging contrast. The produced CARS signal is at a different wavelength that is usually background-free, which makes its detection relatively simple. However, CARS distorts the vibrational lineshapes and possesses a nonresonant signal component, which complicates chemical attribution. SRS is free from these disadvantages; however, its signal is a small modulation on one of the incoming beams and requires an elaborate detection scheme.
CRONUS-2P is a femtosecond laser providing three simultaneous and synchronized outputs with high repetition rate, high output power, short pulse duration, and GDD control, making it the ultimate source for nonlinear microscopy. Two outputs are independently tunable in the 680 – 960 nm and 960 – 1300 nm ranges, while the third is fixed at 1025 nm. The three simultaneous outputs enable advanced CARS and SRS applications with dual-band imaging, a broader selection of vibrational resonance frequencies, constant-difference dual‑beam tuning, resonant enhancement, and more.
- Watt-level output at high repetition rate for fast imaging
- Two tunable and one fixed output for simultaneous multibeam excitation
- Automated GDD control for shortest pulses at the sample
- Industrial-grade design for high power and beam stability
- Repetition rate from 10 to 100 MHz
- Down to 50 fs pulse duration
- High-power models, up to 20 W
- High-energy energy models, up to 0.6 µJ
- Industrial-grade design for high output stability
- CEP stabilization or repetition rate locking
- Tunable pulse duration, 100 fs – 20 ps
- Maximum pulse energy of up to 4 mJ
- Down to < 100 fs right at the output
- Pulse-on-demand and BiBurst for pulse control
- Up to 5th harmonic or tunable extensions
- CEP stabilization or repetition rate locking
- Thermally-stabilized and sealed design
- Continuous tunability from UV to MIR, 190 – 16000 nm
- High energy and high power models for all needs
- Single-shot – 2 MHz repetition rate
- Up to 80 W pump power
- Up to 2 mJ pump pulse energy
CARS-imaging guidance for fs-laser ablation precision surgery
T. Meyer, R. Ackermann, R. Kammel, M. Schmitt, S. Nolte, A. Tünnermann, and J. Popp, The Analyst 24 (144), 7310-7317 (2019).
Vibrational spectroscopy and imaging with non-resonant coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering: double stimulated Raman scattering scheme
D. S. Choi, C. H. Kim, T. Lee, S. Nah, H. Rhee, and M. Cho, Optics Express 16 (27), 23558 (2019).
Microsphere-aided optical microscopy and its applications for super-resolution imaging
P. K. Upputuri, and M. Pramanik, Optics Communications 404, 32-41 (2017).
Chirped time-resolved CARS microscopy with square-pulse excitation
P. K. Upputuri, L. Gong, and H. Wang, Optics Express 8 (22), 9611 (2014).
Super-resolution coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy with photonic nanojets
P. K. Upputuri, Z. Wu, L. Gong, C. K. Ong, and H. Wang, Optics Express 11 (22), 12890 (2014).