Imaging chemical interfaces perpendicular to the optical axis with focus-engineered coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy

In vibrational microscopy, it is often necessary to distinguish between chemically distinct microscopic objects and to highlight the “chemical interfaces” present in the sample under investigation. Here we apply the concept of focus engineering to enhance the sensitivity of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy to these interfaces. Based on detailed numerical simulations, we show that using a focused Stokes field with a sharp phase jump along the longitudinal direction leads to the suppression of the signal from bulk regions and improves the signal contrast from vibrational resonant interfaces oriented perpendicular to the axis of beam propagation. We also demonstrate that the CARS spectral response from chemical interfaces exhibits a clean, Raman-like band-shape with such a phase-shaped excitation. This phenomenon of interface highlighting is a consequence of the coherent nature of CARS signal generation and it involves a complex interplay of the spectral phase of the sample and the spatial phase of the excitation fields.