Visible Continuum Source for Fluorescence Excitation

描述（由申请人提供）：我们建议开发一种具有跨越可见波长的光谱的光源，其光束质量类似于激光。我们的目标是覆盖400纳米至700纳米的波长，在光谱的任何1纳米切片中至少有1毫瓦。光源将以廉价的二极管泵浦锁模激光器为基础，其输出通过高度非线性、单模、熔融石英光纤在光谱上加宽为连续体。光纤的输出将是衍射受限的白光脉冲，脉冲重复率接近100兆赫兹。如此高的重复率相当于连续光几乎所有的仪器应用。这种光源将有许多实验室用途，例如荧光成像。所提出的源的光谱可以被过滤以获得任何所需可见波长的类似激光的光束。这种灵活性将使荧光共聚焦显微镜成为更强大的工具，因为它们可以在任何激发波长下使用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to develop a light source having a spectrum that spans the visible wavelengths, with a beam quality similar to a laser. Our goal is to cover the wavelengths from 400 nm- 700 nm, with at least 1 mW in any 1 nm slice of the spectrum. The light source will be based on an inexpensive diode-pumped mode-locked laser, the output of which is spectrally broadened into a continuum by a highly nonlinear, single-mode, fused-silica fiber. The output of the fiber will be pulses of diffraction-limited white light, with a pulse repetition rate near 100 MHz. Such a high repetition rate is equivalent to continuous light for virtually all instrument applications. Such a source would have many laboratory uses, for example in fluorescence imaging. The spectrum of the proposed source could be filtered to obtain a laser-like beam at any desired visible wavelength. This flexibility would make fluorescence confocal microscopes much more powerful tools, since they could be used at any excitation wavelength.