The translation of CARS imaging towards real time, high resolution, chemically selective endoscopic tissue imaging applications is limited by a lack of sensitivity in CARS scanning probes sufficiently small for incorporation into endoscopes. We have developed here a custom double clad fiber (DCF)-based CARS probe which is designed to suppress the contaminant Four-Wave-Mixing (FWM) background generated within the fiber and integrated it into a fiber based scanning probe head of a few millimeters in diameter. The DCF includes a large mode area (LMA) core as a first means of reducing FWM generation by ~3 dB compared to commercially available, step-index single mode fibers. A micro-fabricated miniature optical filter (MOF) was grown on the distal end of the DCF to block the remaining FWM background from reaching the sample. The resulting probe was used to demonstrate high contrast images of polystyrene beads in the forward-CARS configuration with > 10 dB suppression of the FWM background. In epi-CARS geometry, images exhibited lower contrast due to the leakage of MOF-reflected FWM from the fiber core. Improvements concepts for the fiber probe are proposed for high contrast epi-CARS imaging to enable endoscopic implementation in clinical tissue assessment contexts, particularly in the early detection of endoluminal cancers and in tumor margin assessment.

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We report on recent advances in laser material processing using a novel pulsed fiber laser platform providing pulse shape agility at the nanosecond time scale and at high repetition rates. The pulse shapes can be programmed with a time resolution of 2.5 ns and with an amplitude resolution of 10 bits. Depending on the desired laser performances, the pulses are generated either by directly modulating the drive current of a seed laser diode or by modulating the output of a seed laser diode operated in CW with electro-optic modulators. The pulses are amplified in an amplifier chain in a MOPA configuration. Advanced polarization maintaining LMA fiber designs enable output energy per pulse up to 60 μJ at 1064 nm at a repetition rate of 200 kHz with excellent beam quality (M 2 < 1.1) and narrow line widths suitable for efficient frequency conversion. Micro-milling experiments were carried out with stainless steel, in which processing microstructures of a few tens of microns in size usually represents a challenge, and aluminum, whose thermal conductivity is about 20 times higher than stainless steel. The results obtained with two metals having very different thermal properties using different pulse shapes with durations varying between 3 ns and 80 ns demonstrate the benefits of using lasers offering flexible pulse durations and controllable pulse intensity profiles for rapidly optimizing a process in different applications while using the same laser with respect to conventional methods based on pulsed laser with fixed pulse shapes. Numerous applications are envisioned in a near future, like the micromachining of multi-layered structures, in particular when working with the harmonics of the laser.

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Pilot results showing the potential of sub-microsecond laser pulse shaping to optimize thermomechanical confinement in laser-tissue interactions involving microcavitation are presented. Model samples based on aqueous suspensions of retinal melanosomes and eumelanin particles were irradiated at 532 nm with nanosecond laser pulses and picosecond laser pulse trains having differing shapes and durations. The cavitation threshold radiant exposure and the bubble lifetime above the threshold were measured using a pump-probe setup and sub-nanosecond time-resolved imaging. Both quantities were found to strongly depend on the pulse format. These results suggest that sub-microsecond laser pulse shaping could be exploited to optimize precision and control in numerous applications of laser-directed microcavitation, including selective retinal laser treatments.