Spectro-temporal characterisation of incoherent supercontinuum subnanosecond laser emission for multiplex-CARS microspectroscopy

Among nonlinear optical imaging methods, multiplex-CARS microspectroscopy, which is based on coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS), allows to characterize a large number of chemical bonds simultaneously and gives access to multiple biological information about materials or tissues in only one measurement. Multiplex-CARS needs both monochromatic and broadband laser radiations, that are usually produced from ultrafast lasers and/or optical parametric oscillators, delivering picosecond or femtosecond optical pulses. In this work, the authors introduce a simpler and reliable approach to the laser technology, and assess its potential for CARS applications.