title: Implementation of vibrational phase contrast coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy.
abstract: Detection of molecules using vibrational resonances in the fingerprint region for narrowband coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) is challenging. The spectrum is highly congested resulting in a large background and a reduced specificity. Recently we introduced vibrational phase contrast CARS (VPC-CARS) microscopy as a technique capable of detecting both the amplitude and phase of the CARS signal, providing background-free images and high specificity. In this paper we present a new implementation of VPC-CARS based on a third-order cascaded phase-preserving chain, where the CARS signal is generated at a single (constant) wavelength independent of the vibrational frequency that is addressed. This implementation will simplify the detection side considerably.
authors.affiliation: Optical Sciences group, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology (TNW), University of Twente, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jurna
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Herek
authors.forename: Herman L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Offerhaus