Coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Intensity Research Articles

Analysis of picosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectra for gas-phase diagnostics

We present a hybrid frequency- and time-domain solution, applicable to the case of picosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS), for gas-phase diagnostics. A solution has been derived based on both physical arguments and four-wave mixing equations for picosecond CARS, with pulse durations that are comparable to the dephasing time scale for gas-phase Raman coherence—a regime where commonly employed solutions for impulsive (femtosecond) or cw (nanosecond) pump/Stokes forcing are not strictly valid. We present the ps-CARS spectrum in the form of incoherent sums of CARS intensity spectra, calculated from the fundamental solution for impulsive pump/Stokes Raman preparation. The solution was examined for temperatures from 1000–3000 K, for four plausible experimental configurations, with laser pulse durations of 50–150 ps, and probe pulse delays from −20 to 240 ps. Approximations based on cw and impulsive pump/Stokes preparation to fit picosecond CARS spectra at atmospheric pressure were examined and the relative thermometric accuracy and computational cost of these approximations were quantified for the case of a zero nonresonant CARS contribution, and a nonresonant susceptibility equal to 10% of the Raman-resonant value at the N2 bandhead. The nanosecond CARS approximation can result in large fitting errors when the probe pulse time delay is less than the probe pulse duration. Errors as large as 10–20% are observed in the fit temperatures for a zero picosecond probe pulse delay, when the nonresonant background is neglected, largely due to an inability of the time-independent cw model to capture transient frequency spread dephasing effects at the Q-branch bandhead. The inclusion of a nonresonant background results in 40–60% thermometry errors with a nanosecond model at a zero-probe delay. Time-dependent impulsive calculations used for femtosecond CARS better approximate the structure of the N2 bandhead, reducing temperature fitting errors to 5–10% at a short probe pulse delay. The impulsive approximation results in errors up to 10% at intermediate probe pulse delays, where the coherence of the pump and probe pulses leads to multiple terms in the picosecond CARS solution. Both approximations improve as the probe pulse delay exceeds the probe duration. The nanosecond approximation results in a 2–3% error, while the impulsive model results in differences of less than 1% in some cases. Fits to experimental data obtained using short, ∼60ps pulses at a zero probe time delay and longer 100 ps pulses at a substantial 200 ps delay are presented with accuracies of 1–3% in the fit temperature.

Nonresonant CARS Imaging of Porous and Solid Silicon Nanoparticles in Human Cells.

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS), a nonlinear optical method for rapid visualization of biological objects, represents a progressive tool in biology and medicine to explore cells and tissue structures in living systems and biopsies. In this study, we report efficient nonresonant CARS imaging of silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) in human cells as a proof of concept. As both bulk and porous silicon exhibit a high third-order nonlinear susceptibility, χ(3), which is responsible for the CARS intensity, it is possible to visualize the SiNPs without specific labels. Porous and solid SiNPs were obtained from layers of porous and nonporous silicon nanowires and mesoporous silicon. Electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy showed that porous SiNPs consisted of ∼3 nm silicon nanocrystals (nc-Si) and pores, whereas solid nanoparticles comprised ∼30 nm nc-Si. All types of SiNPs were nontoxic at concentrations up to 500 μg/mL after 24 h of incubation with cells. We demonstrated that although nc-Si possesses a distinguished narrow Raman band of about 520 cm-1, it is possible to detect a high CARS signal from SiNPs in the epi-direction even in a nonresonant regime. 3D CARS images showed that all types of studied SiNPs were visualized as bright spots inside the cytoplasm of cells after 3-6 h of incubation because of the contrast provided by the high third-order nonlinear susceptibility of SiNPs, which is 1 × 104 to 1 × 105 times higher than that of water and typical biological media. Overall, CARS microscopy can provide localization of SiNPs within biological structures at the cellular level and can be a powerful tool for in vitro monitoring of silicon-based drug delivery systems or use SiNPs as labels to monitor various bioprocesses inside living cells.

Phase matching in two-dimensional coherent Raman imaging

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) is a valuable spectroscopic tool for the measurement of temperature and species concentration. In recent years, multi-dimensional CARS has seen focused development and is especially important in reacting flows. An important aspect of multi-dimensional CARS is the phase-matching scheme used. Historically, collinear and BOXCARS phase-matching schemes have been used to achieve phase matching over a broad spectral range. For 1-D and 2-D CARS imaging, two-beam or counter-propagating beam arrangements are necessary. The two-beam arrangement offers many advantages, but introduces a phase mismatch which limits the spectral response of the measurement. This work explores the tradeoffs in spatial resolution, spectral bandwidth, and CARS intensity in 2-D CARS arrangements. Calculations are made for two-beam and counter-propagating beam CARS.

Characterization of thymine microcrystals by CARS and SHG microscopy

Identification of chemically homologous microcrystals in a polycrystal sample is a big challenge and requires developing specific highly sensitive tools. Second harmonic (SHG) and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectroscopy can be used to reveal arrangement of thymine molecules, one of the DNA bases, in microcrystalline sample. Strong dependence of CARS and SHG intensity on the orientation of the linear polarization of the excitation light allows to obtain high resolution images of thymine microcrystals by additionally utilizing the scanning microscopy technique. Experimental findings and theoretical interpretation of the results are compared. Presented experimental data together with quantum chemistry-based theoretical interpretation allowed us to determine the most probable organization of the thymine molecules.

Spatial frequency modulated imaging in coherent anti-Stokes Raman microscopy.

For sparse samples or in the presence of ambient light, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance of single-point-scanning coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) images is not optimized. As an improvement, we propose replacing the conventional CARS focus-point illumination with a periodically structured focus line while continuing to collect the transmitted CARS intensity on a single detector. The object information along the illuminated line is obtained by numerically processing the CARS signal recorded for various periods of the structured focus line. We demonstrate experimentally the feasibility of this spatial frequency modulated imaging (SPIFI) in CARS (SPIFI-CARS) and SHG (SPIFI-SHG) and identify situations where its SNR is better than that of the single-point-scanning approach.

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering rigid endoscope toward robot-assisted surgery.

Label-free visualization of nerves and nervous plexuses will improve the preservation of neurological functions in nerve-sparing robot-assisted surgery. We have developed a coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) rigid endoscope to distinguish nerves from other tissues during surgery. The developed endoscope, which has a tube with a diameter of 12 mm and a length of 270 mm, achieved 0.91% image distortion and 8.6% non-uniformity of CARS intensity in the whole field of view (650 μm diameter). We demonstrated CARS imaging of a rat sciatic nerve and visualization of the fine structure of nerve fibers.

Effect of scattering on coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) signals.

We develop a computational framework to examine the factors responsible for scattering-induced distortions of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) signals in turbid samples. We apply the Huygens-Fresnel wave-based electric field superposition (HF-WEFS) method combined with the radiating dipole approximation to compute the effects of scattering-induced distortions of focal excitation fields on the far-field CARS signal. We analyze the effect of spherical scatterers, placed in the vicinity of the focal volume, on the CARS signal emitted by different objects (2μm diameter solid sphere, 2μm diameter myelin cylinder and 2μm diameter myelin tube). We find that distortions in the CARS signals arise not only from attenuation of the focal field but also from scattering-induced changes in the spatial phase that modifies the angular distribution of the CARS emission. Our simulations further show that CARS signal attenuation can be minimized by using a high numerical aperture condenser. Moreover, unlike the CARS intensity image, CARS images formed by taking the ratio of CARS signals obtained using x- and y-polarized input fields is relatively insensitive to the effects of spherical scatterers. Our computational framework provide a mechanistic approach to characterizing scattering-induced distortions in coherent imaging of turbid media and may inspire bottom-up approaches for adaptive optical methods for image correction.

G214 非共鳴バックグランドノイズを考慮した混合気流内のCARS顕微鏡を用いた非侵襲センシング法の開発(OS-12:先端計測による熱工学の学際的展開(2))

This study describes development of non-intrusive measurement of CO_2 concentration by using coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) considering non-resonant background noise from channel wall. In order to suppress the influence of non-resonant background noise on measured values, beam diameter conversion was employed for measurement of CO_2 concentration. The relationship between CO_2 concentration and CARS intensity generated from CO_2 was obtained. The effect of background noise suppression was investigated by comparing the ratio of CARS to non-resonant noise of beam whose diameter is 5 mm, 7 mm and 10 mm.

Sparse sampling for fast hyperspectral coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering imaging

We demonstrate a method to increase the acquisition speed in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) hyperspectral imaging while retaining the relevant spectral information. The method first determines the important spectral components of a sample from a hyper-spectral image over a small number of spatial points but a large number of spectral points covering the accessible spectral range and sampling the instrument spectral resolution at the Nyquist limit. From these components we determine a small set of frequencies needed to retrieve the weights of the components with minimum error for a given measurement noise. Hyperspectral images with a large number of spatial points, for example covering a large spatial region, are then measured at this small set of frequencies, and a reconstruction algorithm is applied to generate the full spectral range and resolution. The resulting spectra are suited to retrieve from the CARS intensity the CARS susceptibility which is linear in the concentration, and apply unsupervised quantitative analysis methods such as FSC3. We demonstrate the method on CARS hyperspectral images of human osteosarcoma U2OS cell, with a reduction in the acquisition time by a factor of 25. This method is suited also for other coherent vibrational microscopy techniques such as stimulated Raman scattering, and in general for hyperspectral imaging techniques with sequential spectral acquisition.

Effects of tissue fixation on coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering images of brain

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy is an emerging multiphoton technique for the label-free histopathology of the central nervous system, by imaging the lipid content within the tissue. In order to apply the technique on standard histology sections, it is important to know the effects of tissue fixation on the CARS image. Here, we report the effects of two common fixation methods, namely with formalin and methanol-acetone, on mouse brain and human glioblastoma tissue. The variations induced by fixation on the CARS contrast and intensity were compared and interpreted using Raman microspectroscopy. The results show that, whenever unfixed cryosections cannot be used, fixation with formalin constitutes an alternative which does not deteriorate substantially the contrast generated by the different brain structures in the CARS image. Fixation with methanol-acetone strongly modifies the tissue lipid content and is therefore incompatible with the CARS imaging.

Quantitative Chemical Imaging and Unsupervised Analysis Using Hyperspectral Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Microscopy

In this work, we report a method to acquire and analyze hyperspectral coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy images of organic materials and biological samples resulting in an unbiased quantitative chemical analysis. The method employs singular value decomposition on the square root of the CARS intensity, providing an automatic determination of the components above noise, which are retained. Complex CARS susceptibility spectra, which are linear in the chemical composition, are retrieved from the CARS intensity spectra using the causality of the susceptibility by two methods, and their performance is evaluated by comparison with Raman spectra. We use non-negative matrix factorization applied to the imaginary part and the nonresonant real part of the susceptibility with an additional concentration constraint to obtain absolute susceptibility spectra of independently varying chemical components and their absolute concentration. We demonstrate the ability of the method to provide quantitative chemical analysis on known lipid mixtures. We then show the relevance of the method by imaging lipid-rich stem-cell-derived mouse adipocytes as well as differentiated embryonic stem cells with a low density of lipids. We retrieve and visualize the most significant chemical components with spectra given by water, lipid, and proteins segmenting the image into the cell surrounding, lipid droplets, cytosol, and the nucleus, and we reveal the chemical structure of the cells, with details visualized by the projection of the chemical contrast into a few relevant channels.

Stimulated-emission pumping enabling sub-diffraction-limited spatial resolution in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy

We present a theoretical investigation of stimulated emission pumping to achieve sub-diffraction-limited spatial resolution in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy. A pair of control light fields is used to prepopulate the Raman state involved in the CARS process prior to the CARS signal generation. Efficient prepopulation is achieved by employing a path via an electronic or vibrational state. Thereby, the buildup of a coherence between the ground and Raman state during irradiation by the light fields for CARS signal generation is prevented, resulting in the suppression of the CARS intensity by more than 99.8$%$. Two-dimensional spatial excitation profiles have been calculated using donut-shaped spatial profiles for the control light fields, thus, an intensity-dependent narrowing of the CARS excitation profiles below the diffraction limit. Using computer-generated test images we demonstrate a resolution beyond the diffraction limit for CARS microscopy, which is scalable by the control light field intensity, similar to stimulated emission depletion microscopy.

Application of Time-Resolved Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Technique on the Study of Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production Kinetics

Based on the laser pulse output from a femtosecond regenerative amplifier and optical parametric amplifier (OPA), a broadband time-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) setup was assembled. Using this setup, the relationship of hydrogen CARS spectra to its amount in a mixture with air and the relevant detection time-delay were studied. Hydrogen CARS spectra without nonresonant background interference were obtained by adjusting the detection time-delay. The observed CARS intensity exhibited a linear relationship with the square of hydrogen concentration, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction. The signal-to-noise ratio showed that when the pressure of hydrogen-air mixed gas was 0.1 MPa, the detection limit of our setup was less than 0.2%. Using this setup, the hydrogen production kinetics of a platinum(II) terpyridyl acetylide molecular-cobalt catalysttriethanolamine (TEOA) system was studied. The kinetic mechanism of hydrogen production was discussed by considering the effect of changing pH. The results indicate that a high proton concentration will reduce the hydrogen production efficiency. This can be attributed to the inhibition of hydrolysis of TEOA under acidic conditions, because it is the electron and proton donor in this hydrogen production system. [Article] doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201304281 www.whxb.pku.edu.cn 物理化学学报(Wuli Huaxue Xuebao) Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. 2013, 29 (8), 1632-1638 August Received: January 31, 2013; Revised: April 28, 2013; Published on Web: April 28, 2013. ∗Corresponding author. Email: lmfu@chem.ruc.edu.cn; Tel: +86-10-62516604. The project was supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (973) (2009CB220008). 国家重点基础研究发展规划项目(973) (2009CB220008)资助 C Editorial office of Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica 1632 吕永钢等:利用时间分辨相干反斯托克斯拉曼散射技术研究光催化产氢反应动力学 No.8

Herman–Wallis corrections in dual‐pump CARS intensities for combustion temperature and species

Interaction between vibration and rotation in light molecules is responsible for many spectroscopic corrections to the fundamental rigid‐rotor model. In this context, we discuss the interpretation of the coherent anti‐Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) intensity that is recurrently considered in combustion science to measure high temperatures. Intensity changes are quantified by the Herman–Wallis (HW) factor and, unlike other recent works appearing on the subject where the focus is on thermometry, the present work examines the consequences for the quantitative detection of chemical species. Indeed, the diagnostic potential of CARS spectra is not limited to gas‐phase thermometry in that multiple species detection is also possible. To this end, we describe an experiment based on a conventional set‐up designed according to the principles of dual‐pump CARS that, in our case, allows for the simultaneous measurements of temperatures and mole fractions of nitrogen and oxygen observed in a reference flame operated at equivalence ratios below or near stoichiometry. Two HW factors are compared with common reference to the experimental spectra and the results show that, beyond the confirmation of thermometric corrections of about 0.5% for nitrogen CARS, the choice between different vibrational HW models significantly affects the measurement of mole fractions. The effect reaches 1% for nitrogen at stoichiometric conditions, whereas the sensitivity of oxygen to HW models reaches 2.5%. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Analysis of Aquaporin-Mediated Diffusional Water Permeability by Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Microscopy

Water can pass through biological membranes via two pathways: simple diffusion through the lipid bilayer, or water-selective facilitated diffusion through aquaporins (AQPs). Although AQPs play an important role in osmotic water permeability (Pf), the role of AQPs in diffusional water permeability remains unclear because of the difficulty of measuring diffusional water permeability (Pd). Here, we report an accurate and instantaneous method for measuring the Pd of a single HeLa S3 cell using coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy with a quick perfusion device for H2O/D2O exchange. Ultra-high-speed line-scan CARS images were obtained every 0.488 ms. The average decay time constant of CARS intensities (τCARS) for the external solution H2O/D2O exchange was 16.1 ms, whereas the intracellular H2O/D2O exchange was 100.7 ± 19.6 ms. To evaluate the roles of AQP in diffusional water permeability, AQP4 fused with enhanced green fluorescent protein (AQP4-EGFP) was transiently expressed in HeLa S3 cells. The average τCARS for the intracellular H2O/D2O exchange in the AQP4-EGFP-HeLa S3 cells was 43.1 ± 15.8 ms. We also assessed the cell volume and the cell surface area to calculate Pd. The average Pd values for the AQP4-EGFP-HeLa S3 cells and the control EGFP-HeLa S3 cells were 2.7 ± 1.0 × 10−3 and 8.3 ± 2.6 × 10−4 cm/s, respectively. AQP4-mediated water diffusion was independent of the temperature but was dependent on the expression level of the protein at the plasma membrane. These results suggest the possibility of using CARS imaging to investigate the hydrodynamics of single mammalian cells as well as the regulation of AQPs.

On the sensitivity of rotational CARS N2 thermometry to the Herman–Wallis factor

AbstractPurely rotational spectral signals of coherent anti‐Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) from nitrogen molecules are studied as a function of the vibration–rotation interaction that weakens the rigid rotor approximation under which the dominant terms of the Raman cross section are calculated. The effect of the vibration–rotation interaction is quantified by means of the Herman–Wallis (HW) factor, and different approaches to its determination are evaluated in terms of their relative contribution to the CARS intensity and thermometric measurements made in a fuel‐rich hydrocarbon flame. Known HW factors are contrasted with more complete expressions of recent derivation, and it is found that relative line strength adjustments amount to about a few percent. Such differences result in temperature corrections of less than 1%. This value should be considered for the definition of the ideal thermometric accuracy of the technique but it is of minor importance in comparison with other sources of uncertainty (e.g. Raman line widths) that emerge from the complexity typical of reactive gas mixtures. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Real-time imaging of laser-induced membrane disruption of a living cell observed with multifocus coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy

We demonstrate the real-time imaging of laser-induced disruption of the cellular membrane in a living HeLa cell and its cellular response with a multifocus coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscope. A near-infrared pulsed laser beam tightly focused on the cellular membrane of a living cell induces ablation at the focal point causing a local disruption of the cellular membrane. After the membrane disruption a dark spot decreasing CARS intensity of 2840 cm(-1) Raman shift at the disrupted site appears. This dark spot immediately disappears and a strong CARS signal is observed around the disrupted site. This increase of the CARS signal might be caused by resealing of the disrupted site via aggregation of the patch lipid vesicles in the cytoplasm. The accumulation of lipids around the disrupted site is also confirmed with three-dimensional CARS images of a cell before and after membrane disruption. The temporal behavior of the CARS signal at the disrupted site is observed to detect the fusion dynamics of patch vesicles.

NEAR-FIELD AND PARTICLE SIZE EFFECTS IN COHERENT RAMAN SCATTERING

Nonlinear optical processes have been used for sensitive detection of chemicals, optical imaging and spectral analysis of small particles. We have developed an exact theoretical framework to study the angular dependence of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) intensity in the near fleld and far fleld for nanoparticle and microparticle. We obtain exact analytical solution for the CARS signal valid for arbitrary detection distance. Interesting angular dependence is found for nanoparticle, especially with near fleld detection. The study includes the efiects of focused lasers and particle size on the CARS intensity distribution. We flnd that the detection distance and particle size do not afiect the spectroscopic peaks of CARS. However, interference of re∞ected waves in nanoparticle can produce a dip in the backscattered spectrum.

Differential coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy with linearly chirped femtosecond laser pulses

We demonstrate a technique for differential coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy employing linearly chirped femtosecond laser pulses. By replicating the exciting pump-Stokes pulse pairs to create a pulse train at twice the laser repetition rate, and controlling the instantaneous frequency difference of each pair by glass dispersion, we can adjust the Raman frequency probed by each pair in an intrinsically stable and cost-effective way. The resulting CARS intensities are detected by a single photomultiplier as sum and difference using phase-sensitive frequency filtering. We demonstrate imaging of polymer beads and living cells with suppressed nonresonant CARS background and improved chemical sensitivity.

Theory of coherent anti‐Stokes Raman scattering for mesoscopic particle with complex molecules: angular‐dependent spectrum

AbstractWe present a microscopic theory of nonlinear scattering of mesoscopic particle that may be composed of complex molecules. We predict that the spectrum of the scattered field depends on the angle of observation. Transform theory is used to compute the third‐order susceptibility for coherent anti‐Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) of molecules with known absorption spectrum and vibrational modes. By incorporating the theory into an integral scattering formula, we develop a rigorous theory which leads to powerful numerical experimentation of nonlinear optical process in mesoscopic systems composed of complex molecules and driven by laser pulses with arbitrary shape and spectral content. We obtain an expression for spectral dependent CARS field which includes multiple internal reflection and refraction of the incident fields via Mie theory. The theory is used to study the variations of the CARS spectra and intensity on laser parameters and direction of detection. High‐resolution spectra computed for hybrid CARS scheme shows that the relative intensities of the characteristic peaks in the CARS spectrum depend on the direction of detection. This effect can be explained by the interference between the linear response (absorption and dispersion) and the four‐wave mixing process in the mesoscopic medium. The theory is useful for nonlinear spectroscopy, microscopy and nanophotonics involving small particles. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.