Two-photon microscopy with a frequency-doubled fully fusion-spliced fiber laser at 1840 nm

Abstract

We introduce a fiber-based laser system providing 130 fs pulses with 3.5 nJ energy at 920 nm at a 43 MHz repetition rate and illustrate the potential of the source for two-photon excited fluorescence microscopy of living mouse brain. The laser source is based on frequency-doubling high-energy solitons generated and frequency-shifted to 1840 nm in large mode area fibers. This simple laser system could unleash the potential of two-photon microscopy techniques in the biology laboratory where green fluorescent proteins with two-photon absorption spectrum peaking around 920 nm are routinely used.