Super‐resolution fluorescence microscopy has enabled important breakthroughs in biology and materials science. Implementations such as single‐molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) and minimal emission fluxes (MINFLUX) microscopy in the localization mode exploit fluorophores that blink, i.e., switch on and off, stochastically. Here, we introduce nanographenes, namely large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that can also be regarded as atomically precise graphene quantum dots, as a new class of fluorophores for super‐resolution fluorescence microscopy. Nanographenes exhibit outstanding photophysical properties: intrinsic blinking even in air, excellent fluorescence recovery, and stability over several months. As a proof of concept for super‐resolution applications, we use nanographenes in SMLM to generate 3D super‐resolution images of silica nanocracks. Our findings open the door for the widespread application of nanographenes in super‐resolution fluorescence microscopy.

We report on an environmentally stable self-starting monolithic (i.e. without any free-space coupling) all-polarization-maintaining (PM) femtosecond Yb-fiber laser, stabilized against Q-switching by a narrow-band fiber Bragg grating and modelocked using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. The laser output is compressed in a spliced-on hollow-core PM photonic crystal fiber, thus providing direct end-of-the-fiber delivery of pulses of around 370 fs duration and 4 nJ energy with high mode quality. Tuning the pump power of the end amplifier of the laser allows for the control of output pulse bandwidth and duration. Our experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.

Dibenzo­[hi,st]­ovalene (DBOV) has excellent photophysical properties, including strong fluorescence and high ambient stability. Moreover, the optical blinking properties of DBOV have enabled optical super-resolution single-molecule localization microscopy with an imaging resolution beyond the diffraction limit. Various organic and inorganic fluorescent probes have been developed for super-resolution imaging, but those sensitive to pH and/or metal ions have remained elusive. Here, we report a diaza-derivative of DBOV (N-DBOV), synthesized in eight steps with a total yield of 15%. Nitrogen (N)-bearing zigzag edges were formed through oxidative cyclization of amino groups in the last step. UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopy of N-DBOV revealed its promising optical properties comparable to those of the parent DBOV, while cyclic voltammetry and density functional theory calculations highlighted its lower orbital energy levels and potential n-type semiconductor character. Notably, in contrast to that of the parent DBOV, the strong luminescence of N-DBOV is dependent on pH and the presence of heavy metal ions, indicating the potential of N-DBOV in sensing applications. N-DBOV also exhibited pH-responsive blinking, which enables pH-sensitive super-resolution imaging. Therefore, N-DBOV appears to be a highly promising candidate for fluorescence sensing in biology and environmental analytics.

An all-fiber femtosecond source of spectrally isolated Cherenkov radiation is reported, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. Using a monolithic, self-starting femtosecond Yb-doped fiber laser as the pump source and the combination of photonic crystal fibers as the wave-conversion medium, we demonstrate stable and tunable Cherenkov radiation at visible wavelengths 580–630 nm, with pulse duration of sub-160-fs, and the 3 dB spectral bandwidth not exceeding 36 nm. Such an all-fiber Cherenkov radiation source is promising for practical applications in biophotonics such as bioimaging and microscopy.