Broadband nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy by shaping a coherent fiber supercontinuum.

ABSTRACT

Vibrational spectroscopy has been widely applied in different fields due to its label-free chemical-sensing capability. Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) provides stronger signal and faster acquisition than spontaneous Raman scattering, making it especially suitable for molecular imaging. Coherently-controlled single-beam CARS simplifies the conventional multi-beam setup, but the vibrational bandwidth and non-trivial spectrum retrieval have been limiting factors. In this work, a coherent supercontinuum generated in an all-normal-dispersion nonlinear fiber is phase-shaped within a narrow bandwidth for broadband vibrational spectroscopy. The Raman spectra can be directly retrieved from the CARS measurements, covering the fingerprint regime up to 1750 cm(-1). The retrieved spectra of several chemical species agree with their spontaneous Raman data. The compact fiber supercontinuum source offers broad vibrational bandwidth with high stability and sufficient power, showing the potential for spectroscopic imaging in a wide range of applications.