Pump-probe microscopy

Multi-color multi-modal microscopy

Abstract

Most laser microscopy is presently based on fluorescence. It has several drawbacks including limited resolution by diffraction, the requirement of fluorescence emissivity, fatigue and poor collection efficiency. A breakthrough technology, which is still based on fluorescence, that overcomes the limits of resolution was realized recently and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014. Pump-probe microscopy technology is free from some or all of these problems. The present report describes the principles and actual equipment and has application examples of several new microscopic techniques developed recently by the author's group. They are Stimulated Emission Microscopy (SEM), Photothermal Microscopy (PTM), SEM-PTM dual-mode microscopy and difference microscopy (DFM).