Fluorescence lifetime imaging with a low-repetition-rate passively mode-locked diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 oscillator

Sandrine Leveque-Fort (1) , Dimitris N. Papadopoulos (2) , Sébastien Forget (2) , François Balembois (2) , Patrick Georges (2)

1 PPM - Laboratoire de Photophysique Moléculaire
2 Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Elsa

We report a wide-field f luorescence lifetime imaging microscope based on a low-repetition-rate (3.7-MHz) passively mode-locked diode-pumped laser source. This inexpensive and compact laser source operating in the visible and UV range can excite a wide range of f luorophores of biological interest. We demonstrate that the power of this laser source is highly sufficient for studying biological systems with low quantum yields (autofluorescence of tissues and stained living cells). The maximum measurable lifetime is also strongly increased with this laser source, as f luorescence intensity measurement can occur 250 ns after the excitation pulse

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

Sandrine Leveque-Fort, Dimitris N. Papadopoulos, Sébastien Forget, François Balembois, Patrick Georges. Fluorescence lifetime imaging with a low-repetition-rate passively mode-locked diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 oscillator. Optics Letters, 2005, 30 (2), pp.168-170. ⟨hal-00700746⟩