Widely tuneable fiber optical parametric amplifier for coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy

We present a narrow-bandwidth, widely tunable fiber laser source for coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectro-microscopy. The required, synchronized, two-color pulse trains are generated by optical-parametric amplification in a photonic-crystal fiber (PCF). The four-wave-mixing process in the PCF is pumped by a 140ps, alignment-free fiber laser system, and it is seeded by a tunable continuous-wave laser; hence, a high spectral resolution of up to 1cm(-1) is obtained in the CARS process. Since the PCF is pumped close to its zero-dispersion wavelength, a broad parametric gain can be accessed, resulting in a large tuning range for the generated signal and idler wavelengths. CARS spectroscopy and microscopy is demonstrated, probing different molecular vibrational modes within the accessible region between 1200cm(-1) and 3800cm(-1). (C) 2012 Optical Society of America