A femtosecond Raman generator for long wavelength two-photon and third harmonic generation imaging

Abstract

We demonstrate a femtosecond single pass Raman generator based on an YVO crystal pumped by a high energy fiber laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm and a repetition rate of 1 MHz. The Raman generator shifts the pump wavelength to 1175 nm, in a broad band spectrum, making it suitable for multi-photon microscopy. We use the Raman generator for third harmonic generation imaging of live plant specimens as well as for two-photon fluorescence imaging of red fluorescent protein (RFP) expressing HeLa cells. We demonstrate that the photo-damage to a live specimen is low