• Advanced Photonics Nexus
  • Vol. 3, Issue 4, 046012 (2024)
Geng Wang1,2, Jindou Shi1,2, Rishyashring R. Iyer1,2, Janet E. Sorrells1,3, and Haohua Tu1,2,*
Author Affiliations
  • 1University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Urbana, Illinois, United States
  • 2University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Urbana, Illinois, United States
  • 3University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Bioengineering, Urbana, Illinois, United States
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    DOI: 10.1117/1.APN.3.4.046012 Cite this Article Set citation alerts
    Geng Wang, Jindou Shi, Rishyashring R. Iyer, Janet E. Sorrells, Haohua Tu, "Stable high-peak-power fiber supercontinuum generation for adaptive femtosecond biophotonics," Adv. Photon. Nexus 3, 046012 (2024) Copy Citation Text show less
    (a) Three general approaches for fiber supercontinuum generation: all-fiber splice often used in commercial supercontinuum lasers (approach 1), commercial enclosed device with fiber end capping and mode expansion as an add-on nonlinear wavelength converter for a Ti:sapphire oscillator (approach 2), and mounted bare (PM) fiber for coherent fiber supercontinuum generation by an fs Yb:fiber laser (approach 3). PP-FCPA, pulse-picked fiber chirped pulse amplifier; BB, beam blocker; HWP, half-wave plate; PBS, polarizing beam splitter; M, mirror; FL, focusing lens; PCF, photonic crystal fiber; CL, collimating lens. (b) Three schemes of polarized coherent fiber supercontinuum generation under study with wavelength-dependent dispersion of photonic crystal fibers indicative of the restriction of supercontinuum generation to fiber normal dispersion regimes (top) with a cross-sectional image of photonic crystal fibers indicative of pitch and hole sizes (inset), and corresponding spectra of supercontinuum outputs (bottom). (c) Output spectra at different f but the same E for Scheme 3 (top) in comparison with input spectra of source laser (inset), and output spectra at different E but the same f for Scheme 3 (bottom) with cross-sectional images of the supercontinuum generating fiber (inset).
    Fig. 1. (a) Three general approaches for fiber supercontinuum generation: all-fiber splice often used in commercial supercontinuum lasers (approach 1), commercial enclosed device with fiber end capping and mode expansion as an add-on nonlinear wavelength converter for a Ti:sapphire oscillator (approach 2), and mounted bare (PM) fiber for coherent fiber supercontinuum generation by an fs Yb:fiber laser (approach 3). PP-FCPA, pulse-picked fiber chirped pulse amplifier; BB, beam blocker; HWP, half-wave plate; PBS, polarizing beam splitter; M, mirror; FL, focusing lens; PCF, photonic crystal fiber; CL, collimating lens. (b) Three schemes of polarized coherent fiber supercontinuum generation under study with wavelength-dependent dispersion of photonic crystal fibers indicative of the restriction of supercontinuum generation to fiber normal dispersion regimes (top) with a cross-sectional image of photonic crystal fibers indicative of pitch and hole sizes (inset), and corresponding spectra of supercontinuum outputs (bottom). (c) Output spectra at different f but the same E for Scheme 3 (top) in comparison with input spectra of source laser (inset), and output spectra at different E but the same f for Scheme 3 (bottom) with cross-sectional images of the supercontinuum generating fiber (inset).
    (a) Schematics of FNWC and related optical components for fs biophotonics switchable between different microscopes (or applications) by fiber-optic telecommunication connection and disconnection. (b) FNWC output spectrum (1030-nm central wavelength without filtering the supercontinuum), pulse width, spatial mode/profile, and full width at half-maximum (FWHM) pulse width versus GDD position before and after 1-m Kagome hollow-core fiber (left), in compassion to FNWC output spectrum (1110-nm central wavelength from filtered supercontinuum), pulse width, spatial mode/profile, and FWHM pulse width versus GDD position before and after 1-m Kagome hollow-core fiber (right).
    Fig. 2. (a) Schematics of FNWC and related optical components for fs biophotonics switchable between different microscopes (or applications) by fiber-optic telecommunication connection and disconnection. (b) FNWC output spectrum (1030-nm central wavelength without filtering the supercontinuum), pulse width, spatial mode/profile, and full width at half-maximum (FWHM) pulse width versus GDD position before and after 1-m Kagome hollow-core fiber (left), in compassion to FNWC output spectrum (1110-nm central wavelength from filtered supercontinuum), pulse width, spatial mode/profile, and FWHM pulse width versus GDD position before and after 1-m Kagome hollow-core fiber (right).
    FLIM-empowered eSLAM imaging of unlabeled live specimens by FNWC. Scale bar: 50 μm. (a)–(g) Time-lapse intravital imaging of a surgically opened mouse skin flap at one instance, showing flowing blood cells in a blood vessel (cyan arrows) and periodic sarcomeres along muscle myofibrils (arrowhead) in raw SHG/THG data (a) which are blurred in DeepCAD-RT-denoised data with a better overall SNR (b) but recovered in UDVD-denoised data with a better overall SNR (c); the UDVD-denoised data (d) also reveal stromal cells (red arrows) and lipids (stars) barely visible in raw 2PAF/3PAF data (e), resulting in a composite four-color image with discernible blood cells at one instance (f) that can be compared with the similar image at a different instance (g) (see Video 3). (h) 2PAF lifetime (FLIM) image of ex vivo mouse kidney tissue over a 5×5 mosaic of fields of view (1 mm2 total area) that shows the red-colored large-scale vasculature with a fluorescence lifetime of <0.6 ns.
    Fig. 3. FLIM-empowered eSLAM imaging of unlabeled live specimens by FNWC. Scale bar: 50  μm. (a)–(g) Time-lapse intravital imaging of a surgically opened mouse skin flap at one instance, showing flowing blood cells in a blood vessel (cyan arrows) and periodic sarcomeres along muscle myofibrils (arrowhead) in raw SHG/THG data (a) which are blurred in DeepCAD-RT-denoised data with a better overall SNR (b) but recovered in UDVD-denoised data with a better overall SNR (c); the UDVD-denoised data (d) also reveal stromal cells (red arrows) and lipids (stars) barely visible in raw 2PAF/3PAF data (e), resulting in a composite four-color image with discernible blood cells at one instance (f) that can be compared with the similar image at a different instance (g) (see Video 3). (h) 2PAF lifetime (FLIM) image of ex vivo mouse kidney tissue over a 5×5 mosaic of fields of view (1  mm2 total area) that shows the red-colored large-scale vasculature with a fluorescence lifetime of <0.6  ns.
    Regular SLAMeSLAM
    Pulse repetition rate (average power)10 MHz (17  mWa) on sample5 MHz (17  mWa) on sample
    Photonic crystal fiber (lifetime)LMA-PM-15, NKT PhotonicsLMA-PM-40-FUD, NKT Photonics
    (100  h)(>2000  h)
    Optical scanner; fast-axis line rateGalvo–Galvo (6215 H, Cambridge Technology); up to 350 HzResonant (SC30, Electro-Optical Products) and Galvo (GVS011, Thorlabs); 1592 Hz
    Pulse number per pixel per frame50 to 1201
    Photodetection modePhoton countingAnalog sampling (2 GHz for 2PF/3PF; 125 MHz for SHG/THG)
    PMT1-THG, quantum efficiencyH7421-40 (Hamamatsu), 20.4%H10721-210 (Hamamatsu), 42.4%
    PMT2-3PAF, quantum efficiencyH7421-40 (Hamamatsu), 31.8%H7422A-40 (Hamamatsu), 42.1%
    PMT3-SHG, quantum efficiencyH7421-40 (Hamamatsu), 33.4%H10721-20 (Hamamatsu), 16.8%
    PMT4-2PAF, quantum efficiencyH7421-40 (Hamamatsu), 31.6%H7422A-40 (Hamamatsu), 41.4%
    Peak quantum efficiency wavelength of PMTH7421-40: 580 nmH7422A-40: 580 nm
    H10721-20: 630 nm
    H10721-210: 400 nm
    Frame size (field of view)700 pixel × 700 pixel (300μm×300  μm)1024 pixel × 1024 pixel (250μm×250  μm)
    Pixel dwell time (μs) (pulses/pixel/frame)2 to 10 (20 to 100)0.2 (1)
    Frame illumination/acquisition time (s)1 to 50.33/1.37
    Average output power after pulse shaper (mW)50200
    Raw data acquisition for real-time display and storageEnabled by a regular CPUEnabled by a GPU (GeForce RTX 2080, NVIDIA)
    StrengthLow detection noise and flexible optical scanningHigh temporal resolution with FLIM capability
    WeaknessLow temporal resolution that would be worsened by FLIMLarge detection noise and inflexible optical scanning
    Suitable applicationQuantitative live-cell imaging for drug discovery, label-free imaging with weak signals, small-scale optical biopsy, etc.Imaging dynamically moving live samples, label-free imaging with moderate signals, labeled imaging, large-scale optical biopsy, etc.
    Table 1. Complementary features of regular SLAM imaging and eSLAM imaging that share one FNWC.
    Geng Wang, Jindou Shi, Rishyashring R. Iyer, Janet E. Sorrells, Haohua Tu, "Stable high-peak-power fiber supercontinuum generation for adaptive femtosecond biophotonics," Adv. Photon. Nexus 3, 046012 (2024)
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