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New Journal of Physics

Enhancing the sensitivity and robustness of label-free imaging systems via stimulated Raman adiabatic passage

Roberto de J. León‐Montiel, Juan P. Torres

Published Jan 12, 2012• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We show that the sensitivity and robustness of a label-free optical imaging technique based on stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) can be enhanced by using resonant optical transitions in a Raman adiabatic passage scheme. Our approach is based on the consideration that any enhancement of the flow of energy between two light beams involved in the SRS process is related to an increase in atomic population transfer between the energy levels of interest. One can thus profit from techniques developed in quantum optics to maximize such atomic population transfer for enhancing the sensitivity and robustness of optical imaging techniques.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/14/1/013018

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We show that the sensitivity and robustness of a label-free optical imaging technique based on stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) can be enhanced by using resonant optical transitions in a Raman adiabatic passage scheme. Our approach is based on the consideration that any enhancement of the flow of energy between two light beams involved in the SRS process is related to an increase in atomic population transfer between the energy levels of interest. One can thus profit from techniques developed in quantum optics to maximize such atomic population transfer for enhancing the sensitivity and robustness of optical imaging techniques.
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Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy is a powerful label-free imaging technique that probes the vibrational response of chemicals with high specificity and sensitivity. High-power, quantum-enhanced SRS microscopes have been recently demonstrated and applied to polymers and biological samples. Quantum correlations, in the form of squeezed light, enable the microscopes to operate below the shot noise limit, enhancing their performance without increasing the illumination intensity. This addresses the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and speed constraints introduced by photodamage in shot noise-limited microscopes. Previous microscopes have either used single-beam squeezing, but with insufficient brightness to reach the optimal ratio of pump-to-Stokes intensity for maximum SNR, or have used twin-beam squeezing and suffered a 3 dB noise penalty. Here we report a quantum-enhanced Raman microscope that uses a bright squeezed single-beam, enabling operation at the optimal efficiency of the SRS process. The increase in brightness leads to multimode effects that degrade the squeezing level, which we partially overcome using spatial filtering. We apply our quantum-enhanced SRS microscope to biological samples and demonstrate quantum-enhanced multispectral imaging of living cells. The imaging speed of 100×100 pixels in 18 seconds allows the dynamics of cell organelles to be resolved. The SNR achieved is compatible with video-rate imaging, with the quantum correlations yielding a 20% improvement in imaging speed compared to shot noise-limited operation.
We present a general and versatile technique of population transfer based on parallel adiabatic passage by femtosecond shaped pulses. Their amplitude and phase are specifically designed to optimize the adiabatic passage corresponding to parallel eigenvalues at all times. We show that this technique allows the robust adiabatic population transfer in a Raman system with the total pulse area as low as $3\ensuremath{\pi}$, corresponding to a fluence of one order of magnitude below the conventional stimulated Raman adiabatic passage process. This process of short duration, typically picosecond and subpicosecond, is easily implementable with the modern pulse shaper technology and opens the possibility of ultrafast robust population transfer with interesting applications in quantum information processing.
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