Implementation of temporal ptychography algorithm, I$^2$PIE, for improved single-beam coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering measurements

TL;DR

This paper introduces I$^2$PIE, a temporal ptychography algorithm that significantly enhances signal-to-background ratio and spectral intensity in single-beam CARS spectroscopy using ultrafast supercontinuum sources.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel pulse-reconstruction algorithm, I$^2$PIE, that improves SB-CARS measurements by increasing spectral intensity and signal-to-background ratio.

Findings

Signal-to-background improved by nearly 4 times

Integrated spectral intensity increased by 6.5 times

First implementation of I$^2$PIE with supercontinuum sources

Abstract

We present an improvement on the signal-to-background of single-beam coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (SB-CARS) spectroscopy measurements for systems employing ultrafast supercontinuum sources based on all-normal dispersion photonic crystal fibers. Improvements to the signal-to-background arise in the use of a new pulse-reconstruction algorithm based on temporal ptychography, I$^2$PIE. A simple SB-CARS strategy is used to measure the spectrum of para-xylene, where the supercontinuum pulses used are compressed using multiphoton intrapulse interference phase scan (MIIPS) and, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, I$^2$PIE using the same single-beam setup. With the I$^2$PIE implementation, the signal-to-background is improved by nearly a factor of 4 in comparison with MIIPS. More notably, the integrated SB-CARS spectral intensity is increased by a factor of 6.5.