STED microscopy with a MHz pulsed stimulated-Raman-scattering source.

We perform stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy with a novel light source consisting of a fiber-amplified, frequency doubled laser operating with a 1 MHz repetition rate and a 530 nm output coupled into a standard single mode fiber to produce a tunable spectrum of discrete peaks via stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). Using peaks at 585, 600, and 616 nm as STED light we perform STED microscopy with resolution down to 20-30 nm. The nanosecond pulsed light source should prove valuable for all forms of microscopy requiring both brilliance and multiple wavelengths in the visible range.

[1]  Yang Tian-long,et al.  Stimulated raman scattering up to 10 orders in an optical fiber , 1981 .

[2]  S. Hell,et al.  STED microscopy with continuous wave beams , 2007, Nature Methods.

[3]  R. Stolen,et al.  Raman Oscillation in Glass Optical Waveguide , 1972 .

[4]  Mark A. Arbore,et al.  Fiber amplifier based UV laser source , 2009, LASE.

[5]  Christian Eggeling,et al.  STED microscopy reveals crystal colour centres with nanometric resolution. , 2009 .

[6]  S. Hell,et al.  Stimulated emission depletion (STED) nanoscopy of a fluorescent protein-labeled organelle inside a living cell , 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[7]  Stefan W Hell,et al.  Stimulated-emission-depletion microscopy with a multicolor stimulated-Raman-scattering light source. , 2008, Optics letters.

[8]  S. Hell,et al.  STED microscopy with a supercontinuum laser source. , 2008, Optics express.

[9]  Stefan W. Hell,et al.  Laser-diode-stimulated emission depletion microscopy , 2003 .

[10]  S. Hell,et al.  Breaking the diffraction resolution limit by stimulated emission: stimulated-emission-depletion fluorescence microscopy. , 1994, Optics letters.

[11]  G. Rosman,et al.  High-order comb spectrum from stimulated raman scattering in a silica-core fibre , 1982 .

[12]  S. Hell,et al.  Fluorescence microscopy with diffraction resolution barrier broken by stimulated emission. , 2000, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[13]  Christian Eggeling,et al.  Macromolecular-scale resolution in biological fluorescence microscopy. , 2006, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.