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The Journal of Chemical Physics

Three-beam double stimulated Raman scatterings

Minhaeng Cho

Published Jan 5, 2018• 21 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Two-beam stimulated Raman scattering with pump and Stokes beams is manifest in both the Raman loss of the pump beam and the Raman gain of the Stokes beam, and it has been used in various label-free bioimaging applications. Here, a three-beam stimulated Raman scattering that involves pump, Stokes, and depletion beams is considered, where two stimulated Raman gain-loss processes are deliberately made to compete with each other. It is shown that the three-beam Raman scattering process can be described by coupled differential equations for the increased numbers of Stokes and depletion beam photons. From approximate solutions of the coupled differential equations and numerical calculation results, it is shown that a highly efficient suppression of the Stokes Raman gain is possible by using an intense depletion beam whose frequency difference from that of the pump beam is identical to another acceptor Raman mode frequency. I anticipate that the present work will provide a theoretical framework for super-resolution stimulated Raman scattering microscopy.

DOI
10.1063/1.5009527

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Three-beam double stimulated Raman scatterings: Cascading configuration

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Two-beam stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) has been used in diverse label-free spectroscopy and imaging applications of live cells, biological tissues, and functional materials. Recently, we developed a theoretical framework for the three-beam double SRS processes that involve pump, Stokes, and depletion beams, where the pump-Stokes and pump-depletion SRS processes compete with each other. It was shown that the net Stokes gain signal can be suppressed by increasing the depletion beam intensity. The theoretical prediction has been experimentally confirmed recently. In the previous scheme for a selective suppression of one SRS by making it compete with another SRS, the two SRS processes occur in a parallel manner. However, there is another possibility of three-beam double SRS scheme that can be of use to suppress either Raman gain of the Stokes beam or Raman loss of the pump beam by depleting the Stokes photons with yet another SRS process induced by the pair of Stokes and another (second) Stokes beam. This three-beam double SRS process resembles a cascading energy transfer process from the pump beam to the first Stokes beam (SRS-1) and subsequently from the first Stokes beam to the second Stokes beam (SRS-2). Here, the two stimulated Raman gain-loss processes are associated with two different Raman-active vibrational modes of solute molecule. In the present theory, both the radiation and the molecules are treated quantum mechanically. We then show that the cascading-type three-beam double SRS can be described by coupled differential equations for the photon numbers of the pump and Stokes beams. From the approximate solutions as well as exact numerical calculation results for the coupled differential equations, a possibility of efficiently suppressing the stimulated Raman loss of the pump beam by increasing the second Stokes beam intensity is shown and discussed. To further prove a potential use of this scheme for developing a super-resolution SRS microscopy, we present a theoretical expression and numerical simulation results for the full-width-at-half-maximum of SRS imaging point spread function, assuming that the pump and Stokes beam profiles are Gaussian and the second Stokes beam has a doughnut-shaped spatial profile. It is clear that the spatial resolution with the present 3-beam cascading SRS method can be enhanced well beyond the diffraction limit. We anticipate that the present work will provide a theoretical framework for a super-resolution stimulated Raman scattering microscopy that is currently under investigation.

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Physical Review A•Mar 25, 2013•27 citations
Two-beam stimulated Raman scattering with pump and Stokes beams is manifest in both the Raman loss of the pump beam and the Raman gain of the Stokes beam, and it has been used in various label-free bioimaging applications. Here, a three-beam stimulated Raman scattering that involves pump, Stokes, and depletion beams is considered, where two stimulated Raman gain-loss processes are deliberately made to compete with each other. It is shown that the three-beam Raman scattering process can be described by coupled differential equations for the increased numbers of Stokes and depletion beam photons. From approximate solutions of the coupled differential equations and numerical calculation results, it is shown that a highly efficient suppression of the Stokes Raman gain is possible by using an intense depletion beam whose frequency difference from that of the pump beam is identical to another acceptor Raman mode frequency. I anticipate that the present work will provide a theoretical framework for super-resolution stimulated Raman scattering microscopy.
Two-beam stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) has been used in diverse label-free spectroscopy and imaging applications of live cells, biological tissues, and functional materials. Recently, we developed a theoretical framework for the three-beam double SRS processes that involve pump, Stokes, and depletion beams, where the pump-Stokes and pump-depletion SRS processes compete with each other. It was shown that the net Stokes gain signal can be suppressed by increasing the depletion beam intensity. The theoretical prediction has been experimentally confirmed recently. In the previous scheme for a selective suppression of one SRS by making it compete with another SRS, the two SRS processes occur in a parallel manner. However, there is another possibility of three-beam double SRS scheme that can be of use to suppress either Raman gain of the Stokes beam or Raman loss of the pump beam by depleting the Stokes photons with yet another SRS process induced by the pair of Stokes and another (second) Stokes beam. This three-beam double SRS process resembles a cascading energy transfer process from the pump beam to the first Stokes beam (SRS-1) and subsequently from the first Stokes beam to the second Stokes beam (SRS-2). Here, the two stimulated Raman gain-loss processes are associated with two different Raman-active vibrational modes of solute molecule. In the present theory, both the radiation and the molecules are treated quantum mechanically. We then show that the cascading-type three-beam double SRS can be described by coupled differential equations for the photon numbers of the pump and Stokes beams. From the approximate solutions as well as exact numerical calculation results for the coupled differential equations, a possibility of efficiently suppressing the stimulated Raman loss of the pump beam by increasing the second Stokes beam intensity is shown and discussed. To further prove a potential use of this scheme for developing a super-resolution SRS microscopy, we present a theoretical expression and numerical simulation results for the full-width-at-half-maximum of SRS imaging point spread function, assuming that the pump and Stokes beam profiles are Gaussian and the second Stokes beam has a doughnut-shaped spatial profile. It is clear that the spatial resolution with the present 3-beam cascading SRS method can be enhanced well beyond the diffraction limit. We anticipate that the present work will provide a theoretical framework for a super-resolution stimulated Raman scattering microscopy that is currently under investigation.
Summary form only given. Sub-diffraction limited imaging schemes have become widely used in fluorescence microscopy [1]. Howaever, the need for labeling with fluorescent dyes remains a major downside of fluorescence microscopy. The size, availability, toxicity as well as photo-bleaching of the used dyes can complicate measurements [2]. In contrast, Raman imaging is inherently label-free. Unfortunately, the super-resolution schemes used in fluorescence microscopy are currently not transferable to Raman microscopy. This paper presents the development of a scheme for the suppression of coherent Raman scattering through the depletion of probe photons, inspired by the work of M. Cho et al. [3, 4], who showed the suppression of coherent Raman scattering using laser pulses at three different wavelengths and two Raman resonances. In our case, probe depletion is achieved through saturated stimulated Raman scattering in a three-beam setup with only two colors involved. Fig. 1 (a) describes the working principle: in the unsuppressed case, the combination of pump and probe pulse induces stimulated Raman scattering at the Raman resonances, leading to stimulated Raman loss (SRL) of the probe and and stimulated Raman gain (SRG) of the pump. The Raman spectrum then results from the difference between two spectra, recorded with pump on and off, respectively. In the suppressed case a second strong pump pulse, working as a depletion pulse, depletes the probe pulse via stimulated Raman scattering (SRLD) and induces a shortage of the probe photons at the Raman resonances, saturating the stimulated Raman scattering. Thus, only a small amount of additional SRLSup is induced by the original pump. If SRL is detected in addition to the spectral change, induced by the depletion pulse, the SRL will be reduced resulting in SRLSup<; SRL.
A general theory of transient stimulated Raman scattering and the phase-matching diagrams are developed based on an interaction Hamiltonian which includes all the possible competing interaction channels. In a Raman system pumped by multiple crossing beams with multiple Stokes and anti-Stokes components, these channels are defined by the interactions among fields at different frequencies and/or k vectors of the pump pairs and Stokes and anti-Stokes fields. An ensemble-averaged equation of motion for the active phonon mode is derived within the Markovian approximation in which the phonon-phonon coupling (pressure effect) is reduced to an energy relaxation and a phase fluctuation. A complete set of transient coupled equations including phase modulation, Stark shift, medium (anharmonic) saturation, and all the possible four-wave-mixing channels is presented. In the transient regime, it is found that the effects of the Stark shift on the Raman efficiency are mainly governed by the input pump energy in contrast to the steady-state theory where the pump intensity plays the main role. Both analytic and numerical methods are developed in describing the nonlinear effects due to the energy feedback mechanism in the strong pump-depletion regime. Twelve possible four-wave-mixing channels are analyzed for nonlinear phase diagrams characterized by the angles among pump pairs, and Stokes and anti-Stokes fields. Finally, numerical examples are shown for the effects of the coherence lengths of high-order Stokes fields and pump pairs on the generation of low-order Stokes fields.
We present a three-dimensional theory of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) or super-radiance. In particular we address how the spatial and temporal properties of the generated SRS beam or Stokes beam of radiation depends on the spatial properties of the gain medium. Maxwell equations for the Stokes field operators and of the atomic operators are solved analytically and a correlation function for the Stokes field is derived. In the analysis we identify a super-radiating part of the Stokes radiation that exhibit beam characteristics. We show how the intensity in this beam builds up in time and at some point largely dominates the total Stokes radiation of the gain medium. We show how the SRS depends on the Fresnel number and the optical depth and that in fact these two factors are the only factors describing the coherent radiation.
The depletion and saturation effect of stimulated Raman scattering in optical fibres has been investigated. Nonlinear energy coupled equations are solved analytically. Our study reveals that the Raman gain saturation effect caused by the generation of the second Stokes has to be taken into account in light amplification by stimulated Raman scattering although it can be ignored in spontaneous stimulated Raman scattering. We also show that it is advantageous to feed the fibre with small low Stokes signals in amplifying high-order Stokes signals, for easing the requirement of high pump power and long fibre length.
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.