title: A 0.4-mm-diameter probe for nonlinear optical imaging.
abstract: A miniaturized probe that possesses a diameter of 0.4 mm is developed for two-photon-excited fluorescence imaging. The miniaturized probe was manufactured by the collapse of air holes and the formation of a lens on the tip of a double-clad photonic crystal fiber (DCPCF) using electric arc discharging from a conventional fusion splicer. As a result, a femtosecond pulsed laser beam delivered by the DCPCF can be directly focused on a sample for two-photon fluorescence imaging. The numerical aperture of the lensed DCPCF is 0.12. The corresponding focal spot size is 6 microm, which is close to the diffraction limit. This 0.4-mm-diamter probe can provide clear two-photon-excited fluorescence images of 10-microm-diameter fluorescent microspheres.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Micro-Photonics, Faculty of Engineering & Industrial Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Hongchun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D019723:Endoscopes; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D036641:Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008904:Miniaturization; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014159:Transducers