Due to the polychromatic nature of ultrashort pulses, any dispersive optical element can broaden and distort the pulse, thus increasing the power required to collect a given quantity of fluorescence. We are measuring the effects of propogating femtosecond pulses through standard imaging objectives and other suspect optical components such as dichrois mirrors, broadband mirrors, beam expanders, and electro-optic shutters. Results so far indicate that a majority of the observed broadening arrises within the imaging optics. A 5X beam expander in conjunction with a high numerical aperture objective can result in pulse broadening from 60 fs to 300 fs
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