title: Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy with a Robust Fibre Laser Source.
abstract: Stimulated Raman Scattering microscopy allows label-free chemical imaging and has enabled exciting applications in biology, material science, and medicine. It provides a major advantage in imaging speed over spontaneous Raman scattering and has improved image contrast and spectral fidelity compared to coherent anti-Stokes Raman. Wider adoption of the technique has, however, been hindered by the need for a costly and environmentally sensitive tunable ultra-fast dual-wavelength source. We present the development of an optimized all-fibre laser system based on the optical synchronization of two picosecond power amplifiers. To circumvent the high-frequency laser noise intrinsic to amplified fibre lasers, we have further developed a high-speed noise cancellation system based on voltage-subtraction autobalanced detection. We demonstrate uncompromised imaging performance of our fibre-laser based stimulated Raman scattering microscope with shot-noise limited sensitivity and an imaging speed up to 1 frame/s.
authors.affiliation: INVENIO IMAGING, Inc., Menlo Park, California 94025 (USA) ; Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (USA).
authors.forename: Christian W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Freudiger
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (USA).
authors.forename: Wenlong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (USA).
authors.forename: Gary R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Holtom
authors.affiliation: College of Optical Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 (USA).
authors.forename: Nasser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Peyghambarian
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (USA).
authors.forename: X Sunney
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: College of Optical Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 (USA).
authors.forename: Khanh Q
authors.initials: KQ
authors.lastname: Kieu