title: Patterned two-photon illumination by spatiotemporal shaping of ultrashort pulses.
abstract: Multiphoton excitation by temporally focused pulses can be combined with spatial Fourier-transform pulse shaping techniques to enhance spatial control of the excitation volume. Here we propose and demonstrate an optical system for the generation of such spatiotemporally engineered light pulses using a combination of spatial control by a two-dimensional reconfigurable light modulator, with a dispersive optical setup for temporal focusing. We show that although the properties of a holographic beam significantly differ from those of plane-wave illumination used in previous temporal focusing realizations, this leads only to a slightly reduced axial resolution. We show that the system can provide scanningless, arbitrarily shaped, depth resolved excitation patterns that offer new perspectives for multiphoton photoactivation and optical lithography applications.
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiology and New Microscopies Laboratory, Wavefront engineering microscopy group, CNRS UMR8154, INSERM S603, Paris Descartes University, 45, rue des Saints Pères, 75270 Paris Cedex 06, France.
authors.forename: Eirini
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Papagiakoumou
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: de Sars
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oron
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Emiliani