title: Shot noise limited heterodyne detection of CARS signals.
abstract: We demonstrate heterodyne detection of CARS signals using a cascaded phase-preserving chain to generate the CARS input wavelengths and a coherent local oscillator. The heterodyne amplification by the local oscillator reveals a window for shot noise limited detection before the signal-to-noise is limited by amplitude fluctuations. We demonstrate an improvement in sensitivity by more than 3 orders of magnitude for detection using a photodiode. This will enable CARS microscopy to reveal concentrations below the current mMolar range.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Jurna
authors: J P
authors: JP
authors: Korterik
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Otto
authors: H L
authors: HL
authors: Offerhaus