Recent advances in fibre lasers for nonlinear microscopy

Xu, Chris; Wise, Frank W.

doi:10.1038/nphoton.2013.284

Cited by 462 publications

(226 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…Advanced laser technologies, such as miniature design [1], scalable energy [2,3] and flexible wavelength [4,5], have empowered abundant advancements in optical communication [6], material processing [7,8], astronomical exploration [9,10], biological imaging [11][12][13], and even interdisciplinary studies. On the other hand, the bright laser beam, particularly when propagating in well-confined optical fibers with few-micron (μm) core sizes [14], can stimulate intriguing and fruitful nonlinear physics, e.g., Kerr cavity soliton generation [15], ultraweak soliton interaction [16], soliton pairing [17,18] and stochastic dynamics [19][20][21], which has vastly expedited the understanding of nonlinear physics problems spanning over a broad spectrum of disciplines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling multi-scale laser dynamics through time-stretch and time-lens spectroscopies

Wei¹,

Li²,

Yu³

et al. 2017

Opt. Express

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Abstract:Spectro-temporal studies on the nonlinear physics of complex laser dynamics are essential in approaching its ultimate performance as well as understanding interdisciplinary problems. Unfortunately, it has long been limited by the insufficient spectro-temporal resolving power of conventional temporal and spectral analyzers, particularly when an indefinite optical signal ensemble contains polychromatic mixtures of continuous-wave (CW) and short pulse. In this work, we propose a real-time optical spectro-temporal analyzer (ROSTA) with three synchronized processing channels (i.e., multi-core) for single-shot studies on laser dynamics. It simultaneously provides temporal resolutions of ~70 ps in the time domain and 10's ns (or 10's MHz frame rate) in the spectral domain, as well as a high spectral resolution for multiscale optical inputs, i.e., ranging from CW to fs pulses. Its nontrivial record length of up to 6.4 ms enables continuous observations of non-repetitive optical events over an extensive time period -equivalent to a propagation distance of ~1900 km. To showcase its practical applications, ROSTA is applied to visualize the onset of passive modelocking of a fiber laser, and interesting phenomena, i.e., evolution from quasi-CW noise burst to strong shock, transition from fluctuation to mode-locking, and coexistence of CW and mode-locked pulses, have been spectro-temporally observed in a single-shot manner for the first time. It is anticipated that ROSTA will be a powerful technology for spectro-temporal optical diagnosis in different areas involving polychromatic transients. 1335-1337 (2008). 11. C. Xu and F. W. Wise, "Recent advances in fibre lasers for nonlinear microscopy," Nat. Photonics 7(11), 875-882 (2013). 12. N. G. Horton, K. Wang, D. Kobat, C. G. Clark, F. W. Wise, C. B. Schaffer, and C. Xu, "In vivo three-photon microscopy of subcortical structures within an intact mouse brain," Nat. Photonics 7(3), 205-209 (2013). 13. C. W. Freudiger, W. Yang, G. R. Holtom, N. Peyghambarian, X. S. Xie, and K. Q. Kieu, "Stimulated Raman scattering microscopy with a robust fibre laser source," Nat. Photonics 8(2), 153-159 (2014). 14. J. M. Dudley, G. Genty, and S. Coen, "Supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fiber," Rev. Mod. Phys.78(4), 1135-1184 (2006). 15. F. Leo, S. Coen, P. Kockaertl, S.-P. Gorza, P. Emplit, and M. Haelterman, "Temporal cavity solitons in onedimensional kerr media as bits in an all-optical buffer," Nat. Photonics 4(7), 471-476 (2010). 16. J. K. Jang, M. Erkintalo, S. G. Murdoch, and S. Coen, "Ultraweak long-range interactions of solitons observed over astronomical distances," Nat.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling multi-scale laser dynamics through time-stretch and time-lens spectroscopies

Wei¹,

Li²,

Yu³

et al. 2017

Opt. Express

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is the first demonstration that dissipative soliton lasers can provide a route to a Raman scattering microscopy source. In addition, the dissipative soliton laser can produce high energy femtosecond pulses at 1040 nm that are suitable for other imaging modalities, such as TPEF and SHG microscopy [20][21][22], and the wavelength tunability could be extended by using the pulses to pump a fiber OPO optimized for femtosecond pulse generation. Although the source is not yet quiet enough for SRS microscopy with direct detection, this device provides RIN levels comparable to the best achieved by fiber sources to date and could be further optimized for low-noise operation through the design of the laser and through energy scaling with large core fibers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By utilizing a high-power femtosecond fiber laser [18,19] for the pump pulse, the same robust platform is capable of producing picosecond and femtosecond pulses near 1040 nm. The high energy femtosecond pulses from this laser have been used for TPEF and SHG microscopy [20][21][22], so the source presented here provides suitable pulses for multiphoton and harmonic-generation imaging with a single exci-tation wavelength, as well as CARS microscopy. As an additional motivation, SRS microscopy stands to benefit from an ultra-low noise fiber source.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multimodal fiber source for nonlinear microscopy based on a dissipative soliton laser

Lamb

Wise

2015

Biomed. Opt. Express

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Recent developments in high energy femtosecond fiber lasers have enabled robust and lower-cost sources for multiphoton-fluorescence and harmonic-generation imaging. However, picosecond pulses are better suited for Raman scattering microscopy, so the ideal multimodal source for nonlinear microcopy needs to provide both durations. Here we present spectral compression of a high-power femtosecond fiber laser as a route to producing transform-limited picosecond pulses. These pulses pump a fiber optical parametric oscillator to yield a robust fiber source capable of providing the synchronized picosecond pulse trains needed for Raman scattering microscopy. Thus, this system can be used as a multimodal platform for nonlinear microscopy techniques.

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“…They also possess a broad range of attractive physical attributes, functionality and practicality that distinguish them from other bulky solid-state counterparts, including single longitudinal mode (also known as single frequency) [3,4], broad gain bandwidth [5], high power efficiency (>80%) [6,7], outstanding thermo-optical properties and fully alignment-free design. Excellent performance characteristics of continuous wave (CW), nanosecond (ns), picosecond (ps) and femtosecond (fs) YDFLs have been intensively demonstrated so far [8][9][10]. Therein, the working wavelength of YDFLs has long been limited to two typical spectral bands: 970-980 nm which exploits three-level transition and 1030-1100 nm which is dominated by quasi-three-level transition [11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compact fs ytterbium fiber laser at 1010 nm for biomedical applications

Kong

Pilger

Hachmeister

et al. 2017

Biomed. Opt. Express

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Ytterbium-doped fiber lasers (YDFLs) working in the near-infrared (NIR) spectral window and capable of high-power operation are popular in recent years. They have been broadly used in a variety of scientific and industrial research areas, including light bullet generation, optical frequency comb formation, materials fabrication, free-space laser communication, and biomedical diagnostics as well. The growing interest in YDFLs has also been cultivated for the generation of high-power femtosecond (fs) pulses. Unfortunately, the operating wavelengths of fs YDFLs have mostly been confined to two spectral bands, i.e., 970-980 nm through the three-level energy transition and 1030-1100 nm through the quasi three-level energy transition, leading to a spectral gap (990-1020 nm) in between, which is attributed to an intrinsically weak gain in this wavelength range. Here we demonstrate a highpower mode-locked fs YDFL operating at 1010 nm, which is accomplished in a compact and cost-effective package. It exhibits superior performance in terms of both short-term and longterm stability, i.e., <0.3% (peak intensity over 2.4 μs) and <4.0% (average power over 24 hours), respectively. To illustrate the practical applications, it is subsequently employed as a versatile fs laser for high-quality nonlinear imaging of biological samples, including twophoton excited fluorescence microscopy of mouse kidney and brain sections, as well as polarization-sensitive second-harmonic generation microscopy of potato starch granules and mouse tail muscle. It is anticipated that these efforts will largely extend the capability of fs YDFLs which is continuously tunable over 970-1100 nm wavelength range for wideband hyperspectral operations, serving as a promising complement to the gold-standard Ti:sapphire fs lasers.

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Recent advances in fibre lasers for nonlinear microscopy

Cited by 462 publications

References 92 publications

Unveiling multi-scale laser dynamics through time-stretch and time-lens spectroscopies

Unveiling multi-scale laser dynamics through time-stretch and time-lens spectroscopies

Multimodal fiber source for nonlinear microscopy based on a dissipative soliton laser

Compact fs ytterbium fiber laser at 1010 nm for biomedical applications

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