SUPERCONTINUUM-LIGHT-GENERATING LIGHT SOURCE, SUPERCONTINUUM-LIGHT GENERATION METHOD, MULTIPHOTON-EXCITED FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPE, AND MULTIPHOTON EXCITATION METHOD

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a supercontinuum-light-generating light source which can be used in a novel application.SOLUTION: Ultrashort pulsed-laser light generated from a pulsed-light oscillator 1 enters a waveguide 2 via a polarization control element 3 and becomes supercontinuum light due to a nonlinear optical effect, and the supercontinuum light is compressed by a pulse compressor 7 comprising a prism pair unit 71 and emitted. The waveguide 2 comprises nonlinear fibers that exhibit normal dispersion characteristics in a wavelength region from 850 to 1,550 nm, which gives supercontinuum light in a spectrum that is continuous in a band having a wavelength width of at least 200 nm included in a wavelength region from 850 nm to 1,550 nm. The time peak intensity of the supercontinuum light is at least 1 kW; and the supercontinuum light is used as excitation light in a multiphoton-excited fluorescence microscope for performing fluorescence observation of a biological sample or the like.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10