Multiphoton-Excited Fluorescence Imaging and Photochemical Modification of Dye-Doped Polystyrene Microsphere Arrays

Abstract

The use of nonlinear optical methods for thin-film polymeric materials modification and characterization is explored. Ordered 3-dimensional (3-D) dye-doped polystyrene microsphere arrays are photobleached and imaged in these studies. Efficient, irreversible photochemical bleaching of the dye within individual 0.5 and 1 μm diameter microspheres occurs when 810 nm light from a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser is focused to an ∼400 nm diameter spot within the spheres. Photobleaching is shown to result from three-photon absorption and may involve ionization of the dye. The three-photon-induced photochemistry is dramatically more efficient than that resulting from single-photon excitation. Imaging of the unbleached and bleached arrays is accomplished by monitoring the two-photon-excited fluorescence from the dye. Both the nonlinear photobleaching and imaging methods provide inherent depth-discriminating capabilities, allowing for high-resolution 3-D control of the volume modified and imaged. The results suggest t...