The long term objective of this research is to complete the development of a compact, robust, and user-friendly laser source for 2-photon excitation laser scanning microscopy (TPLSM). TPLSM provides intrinsic three-dimensional resolution only at the focal volume thus eliminating the problem of out-of-focus photoexcitation present in conventional fluorescence microscopy. Three different laser sources are proposed to be developed, Cr:forsterite, diode-pumped Cr:LiSGAF, and diode-pumped Erbium-doped fiber. These will be made into prototype devices to be easily interfaced with existing commercial confocal microscopes. These sources operate in the near IR where existing fluorophores absorb, provide 100 fs-130 fs pulses and mWs of output power. Our Phase I results showed that these systems can be made compact (one already is), turn-key systems and truly user friendly.
