Analysis and experimental assessment of the sensitivity of stimulated Raman scattering microscopy

Ozeki Y., Dake F., Kajiyama S., et al. Analysis and experimental assessment of the sensitivity of stimulated Raman scattering microscopy. Optics Express, 17, 5, 3651. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.17.003651.
We theoretically show that the shot-noise-limited sensitivity of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy, which enables high-contrast vibrational imaging, is similar to that of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy. We experimentally confirm that the sensitivity of our SRS microscope is lower than the shot-noise limit only by <15 dB, which indicates that the high-sensitivity of SRS microscopy is readily available.