High resolution imaging with TM_(01) laser beams

摘要

We present two optical systems that can transform a Gaussian beam into the lowest-order transverse magnetic laser beam (the so-called TM_(01) laser beam). When a TM_(01) laser beam is focused by an objective with a high numerical aperture (NA ＞ 0.9), theory predicts the appearance of a bright central feature at focus; the width of this feature is smaller than that of the focal spot obtained with a Gaussian beam [1,2]. Our goal is to improve the lateral resolution of two-photon microscopy when a TM_(01) laser beam is used.