High angular-resolution automated visible-wavelength scanning angle Raman microscopy.

A scanning angle (SA) Raman microscope with 532-nm excitation is reported for probing chemical content perpendicular to a sample interface. The instrument is fully automated to collect Raman spectra across a range of incident angles from 20.50 to 79.

The number of accumulated photons and the quality of stimulated emission depletion lifetime images.

Time binning is used to increase the number of photon counts in the peak channel of stimulated emission depletion fluorescence lifetime decay curves to determine how it affects the resulting lifetime image. The fluorescence lifetime of the fluorophore, Alexa Fluor 594 phalloidin, bound to F-actin is probed in cultured S2 cells at a spatial resolution of ~40 nm. This corresponds to a 10-fold smaller probe volume compared to confocal imaging, and a reduced number of photons contributing to the signal.

Scanning angle Raman spectroscopy of poly(3-hexylthiophene)-based films on indium tin oxide, gold, and sapphire surfaces.

Interest in realizing conjugated polymer-based films with controlled morphology for efficient electronic devices, including photovoltaics, requires a parallel effort to characterize these films. Scanning angle (SA) Raman spectroscopy is applied to measure poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)-blend morphology on sapphire, gold, and indium tin oxide interfaces, including functional organic photovoltaic devices. Nonresonant SA Raman spectra are collected in seconds with signal-to-noise ratios that exceed 80, which is possible due to the reproducible SA signal enhancement.

Supercontinuum stimulated emission depletion fluorescence lifetime imaging.

Supercontinuum (SC) stimulated emission depletion (STED) fluorescence lifetime imaging is demonstrated by using time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) detection. The spatial resolution of the developed STED instrument was measured by imaging monodispersed 40-nm fluorescent beads and then determining their fwhm, and was 36 ± 9 and 40 ± 10 nm in the X and Y coordinates, respectively. The same beads measured by confocal microscopy were 450 ± 50 and 430 ± 30 nm, which is larger than the diffraction limit of light due to underfilling the microscope objective.