Resolution and contrast enhancement of subtractive second harmonic generation microscopy with a circularly polarized vortex beam

We extend the subtractive imaging method to label-free second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy to enhance the spatial resolution and contrast. This method is based on the intensity difference between two images obtained with circularly polarized Gaussian and doughnut-shaped beams, respectively. By characterizing the intensity and polarization distributions of the two focused beams, we verify the feasibility of the subtractive imaging method in polarization dependent SHG microscopy. The resolution and contrast enhancement in different biological samples is demonstrated. This work will open a new avenue for the applications of SHG microscopy in biomedical research.