PhotoniX, Volume. 4, Issue 1, 27(2023)
Confocal nonlinear optical imaging on hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets
Optical microscopy with optimal axial resolution is critical for precise visualization of two-dimensional flat-top structures. Here, we present sub-diffraction-limited ultrafast imaging of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) nanosheets using a confocal focus-engineered coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (cFE-CARS) microscopic system. By incorporating a pinhole with a diameter of approximately 30 μm, we effectively minimized the intensity of side lobes induced by circular partial pi-phase shift in the wavefront (diameter, d0) of the probe beam, as well as nonresonant background CARS intensities. Using axial-resolution-improved cFE-CARS (acFE-CARS), the achieved axial resolution is 350 nm, exhibiting a 4.3-folded increase in the signal-to-noise ratio compared to the previous case with 0.58 d0 phase mask. This improvement can be accomplished by using a phase mask of 0.24 d0. Additionally, we employed nondegenerate phase matching with three temporally separable incident beams, which facilitated cross-sectional visualization of highly-sample-specific and vibration-sensitive signals in a pump-probe fashion with subpicosecond time resolution. Our observations reveal time-dependent CARS dephasing in hBN nanosheets, induced by Raman-free induction decay (0.66 ps) in the 1373 cm-1 mode.
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Gwanjin Lee, Konkada Manattayil Jyothsna, Jonghoo Park, JaeDong Lee, Varun Raghunathan, Hyunmin Kim. Confocal nonlinear optical imaging on hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets[J]. PhotoniX, 2023, 4(1): 27
Category: Research Articles
Received: Jan. 8, 2023
Accepted: Aug. 2, 2023
Published Online: Sep. 18, 2023
The Author Email: Kim Hyunmin (hyunmin.kim@dgist.ac.kr)