Time-resolved two color single-beam CARS employing supercontinuum and femtosecond pulse shaping

Using femtosecond pulse shaping techniques to coherently control the signal generation, a single-beam approach for truly time-resolved coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectroscopy is presented and demonstrated with a molecular sample in liquid phase. In our experimental realization, compressed supercontinuum output of a microstructured fiber is actively shaped in phase to provide two delayed pulses of different color for time-resolved pump–probe measurements. As a compact and experimentally robust approach, it greatly facilitates the application of femtosecond time-resolved CARS in microscopy with chemical contrast.