Nonlinear optical nanocrystals have been recently introduced as a promising alternative to fluorescent probes for multiphoton microscopy. We present for the first time a complete survey of the properties of five nanomaterials (KNbO(3), LiNbO(3), BaTiO(3), KTP, and ZnO), describing their preparation and stabilization and providing quantitative estimations of their nonlinear optical response. In the light of their prospective use as biological and clinical markers, we assess their biocompatibility on human healthy and cancerous cell lines. Finally, we demonstrate the great potential for cell imaging of these inherently nonlinear probes in terms of optical contrast, wavelength flexibility, and signal photostability.

International audienceWe have investigated nanocrystals of Fe(IO3)3 by polarization-sensitive second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy. As the nonlinear optical properties of this material were only poorly characterized, we have first determined the relative values of the elements of its second-order susceptibility tensor, by the global fitting of the polarization-resolved SHG response of an ensemble of nanocrystals. This information allows one to optically retrieve the orientation of individual particles in the sample. The high SHG efficiency measured for nanocrystals of Fe(IO3)3 and their polar nature could make them very attractive for nonlinear microscopy of biological samples

BackgroundHarmonic Nanoparticles are a new family of exogenous markers for multiphoton imaging exerting optical contrast by second harmonic (SH) generation. In this tutorial, we present the application of Hyper-Rayleigh Scattering (HRS) for a quantitative assessment of the nonlinear optical properties of these particles and discuss the underlying theory and some crucial experimental aspects.MethodsThe second harmonic properties of BaTiO3, KNbO3, KiTiOPO4 (KTP), LiNbO3 and ZnO nanocrystals (NCs) are investigated by HRS measurements after careful preparation and characterization of colloidal suspensions.ResultsA detailed analysis of the experimental results is presented with emphasis on the theoretical background and on the influence of some experimental parameters including the accurate determination of the nanocrystal size and concentration. The SH generation efficiency and averaged nonlinear optical coefficients are then derived and compared for six different types of NCs.ConclusionsAfter preparation of colloidal NC suspensions and careful examination of their size, concentration and possible aggregation state, HRS appears as a valuable tool to quantitatively assess the SH efficiency of noncentrosymmetric NCs. All the investigated nanomaterials show high SH conversion efficiencies, demonstrating a good potential for bio-labelling applications.

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