We report on the development of a balanced detector suited for multicolor imaging. The source pulsed light is split into probe and reference pulsed light. The reference pulse is delayed through an optical path and the probe and reference pulses are detected by a single photodetector. The signs of the detected signals of the probe and reference pulses are flipped based on a signal synchronous to the light source. Then, the signals are averaged through a low-pass filter. The output signal is proportional to the intensity difference between the probe and the reference. This balanced detector has two features: (1) both the probe and reference pulsed lights are detected by a single photodetector and (2) a voltage bias on the sign flipping compensates for the optical-intensity unbalance between the probe and reference pulsed lights. The first feature enables the probe and reference pulses to travel along a common optical path from a sample through a spectrograph to the photodetector, which minimizes the intensity unbalance between the probe and reference pulses during imaging and spectroscopy. The second feature ensures the complete balanced-detection in whole wavelength range by compensating for the optical unbalance created by deviations in the splitting ratios of the probe and reference lights at different wavelengths. Although a higher signal to noise ratio (SNR) reached to near shot noise limited SNR is attained by attaching a resonator to the photodetector for pulse repetition, the electrical bias cannot compensate for the optical balance. This unbalance is, however, corrected by adjusting the phase of the synchronous signal. We applied the present balanced detection to a stimulated Raman microscope with supercontinuum probe light and demonstrated its noise cancelling performance through capturing polystyrene beads.

Intensity noise on a probe beam is a serious obstacle to highly sensitive and high-speed pump-probe microscopy. In this report, a reference beam of the probe is prepared and delayed. The intensity modulation by the sample is measured as the phase modulation of the superposition of detected electrical signals of the probe and reference beams, and the intensity noise is canceled. We evaluate performance of the noise cancellation using the super-continuum light from a piece of photonic crystal fiber, and find that the noise is canceled by ∼26  dB. We then apply the method to a stimulated Raman microscope. This method contributes to highly sensitive and high-speed pump-probe imaging with various light sources.

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