Fiber optical parametric amplification of low-photon-flux microscopy signals

The performance of a laser scanning microscope inevitably depends on the performance of the point detector. As laser scanning approaches aim to penetrate deeper in tissue, there is a commensurate need for detectors that can operate with high sensitivity, bandwidth, and dynamic range at near-infrared wavelengths where scattering is reduced. Here, we demonstrate that fiber optical parametric amplification can be used to boost low-power microscopy signals to levels that can be detected by near-infrared photodiodes without introducing prohibitive noise. We construct amplifiers that achieve >50 dB of parametric gain at wavelengths within the third near-infrared transparency window and have similar sensitivity to near-infrared photomultiplier tubes. Furthermore, these amplifiers outperform detection with a photodiode and subsequent electrical amplification, providing a factor of 10–100-fold improvement in sensitivity. We demonstrate amplifier bandwidths up to ~1.6 GHz, a factor of 10 faster than conventional detectors, including near-infrared photo-multiplier tubes, with sensitivity of ~8 nW (corresponding to ~20 photons/pixel). Finally, the increased performance of the optical amplifier is confirmed in diagnostic imaging experiments where >10× less power is required to achieve the same signal-to-noise ratio and contrast as images using electrical amplification. Accordingly, fiber optical parametric amplification is a new path forward for extending the performance of laser scanning microscopes in the near infrared.