High-performance versatile setup for simultaneous Brillouin-Raman micro-spectroscopy

TL;DR

This paper introduces a high-performance, fully scanning multimodal micro-spectroscopy setup that simultaneously captures Brillouin and Raman signals across a wide spectral range, enabling detailed analysis of complex biological samples with high contrast and spatial resolution.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel integrated system for simultaneous Brillouin-Raman micro-spectroscopy, allowing for comprehensive, label-free analysis of samples without the need for separate measurements.

Findings

Achieved 150 dB contrast for imaging opaque media

Demonstrated sub-cellular spatial resolution

Applied the method to biological samples and reaction kinetics

Abstract

Brillouin and Raman scattering spectroscopy are established techniques for the nondestructive contactless and label-free readout of mechanical, chemical and structural properties of condensed matter. Brillouin-Raman investigations currently require separate measurements and a site-matching approach to obtain complementary information from a sample. Here we demonstrate a new concept of fully scanning multimodal micro-spectroscopy for simultaneous detection of Brillouin and Raman light scattering in an exceptionally wide spectral range, from fractions of GHz to hundreds of THz. It yields an unprecedented 150 dB contrast, which is especially important for the analysis of opaque or turbid media such as biomedical samples, and a spatial resolution on sub-cellular scale. We report the first applications of this new multimodal method to a range of systems, from a single cell to the fast reaction kinetics of a curing process, and the mechano-chemical mapping of highly scattering biological samples.