Frequency-doubled femtosecond Er-doped fiber laser for two-photon excited fluorescence imaging

A femtosecond frequency-doubled Erbium-doped fiber laser with adjustable pulse repetition rate is developed and applied in two-photon excited fluorescence microscopy. The all-fiber laser system provides the fundamental pulse at 1560 nm wavelength with 22 fs duration for the second harmonic generation, resulting in 1.35 nJ, 60 fs pulses at 780 nm. The repetition rate is adjusted by a pulse picker unit built-in within the amplifier chain, directly providing transform-limited pulses for any chosen repetition rate between 1 and 12 MHz. We employed the laser source to drive a scanning two-photon excited fluorescence microscope for ex vivo rat skin and other samples imaging at various pulse repetition rates. Due to compactness, ease of operation, and suitable pulse characteristics the laser source can be considered as an attractive alternative for Ti:sapphire laser in biomedical imaging.