Brighter CARS hypermicroscopy via “spectral surfing”

Abstract

We present a method for improving the brightness of supercontinuum-Stokes-based CARS hypermicroscopy. The synchronization of power-tuned supercontinuum generation with the time-delay of Pump/Stokes pulses in CARS hypermicroscopy allows for more effective pulse interactions — in a method we denote “spectral surfing. This, in turn, enables the single-window scanning of a broader range of CARS frequencies — from 300 cm⁻¹ to 3500 cm⁻¹.