Resolution of spectral focusing in coherent Raman imaging.

In this manuscript, we present a detailed investigation of the impact of dispersion on the spectral resolution achievable by the application of spectral focusing in coherent Raman imaging. Our results reveal the detrimental effect of third order dispersion that limits the resolution for group delay dispersion of 100 000 fs and more. Experimental examples for the exact determination of the described effects are given as well as a condensed presentation of the known equations. We introduce useful approximations to the latter, which serve to facilitate the straightforward integration of spectral focusing into any multimodal microscope.