Nonlinear Coherent Microscopy of Tissues, Nanostructures and Single Molecules

Eric Potma
University of California, Irvine

Thurssday, May 27, 2010 at 3:00pm
Engr IV Maxwell Room 57-124

Abstract
The development of nonlinear coherent optical microscopy techniques, such as second harmonic generation (SHG) and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) imaging, has opened up new ways of probing biological and synthetic materials. Not only can these nonlinear optical techniques be used for three-dimensional chemical mapping of intact skin and complete aortas, but these imaging tools are also the methods of choice to interrogate the nonlinear optical properties of nanostructures. In this presentation, we discuss anti-Stokes four-wave-mixing microscopy experiments aimed at unraveling the nonlinear plasmonics of gold nanowires. It is also shown that this form of microscopy is capable of visualizing individual single-walled carbon nanotubes, and that the third-order nonlinear optical properties of these structures can be studied one nanotube at a time.

Biography
Born and raised in the Netherlands, Dr. Eric Potma got his Masters at the University of Groningen in 1996. He stayed five more years for his graduate research, which he completed in 2001. While working in the ultrafast spectroscopy group of Prof. Douwe Wiersma, Potma focused his research on the development of laser sources for microscopy and the application of nonlinear methods to optical imaging. He investigated the diffusion of molecules inside cells using a variety of nonlinear techniques, among which coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) and optical Kerr effect (OKE) microspectoscopy. In 2001, Potma joined the group of Prof. Sunney Xie at Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow. During this time, he has been involved in projects on synchronizing mode-locked lasers, designing a picosecond amplifier, visualizing lipid bilayers with CARS microscopy and vibrational imaging of tissue in vivo at video rate. In 2005, Potma joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of California in Irvine as an Assistant Professor. His group is focusing on the characterization of nanostructures and complex biological materials with the aid of new optical imaging techniques. Potma was awarded an NSF CAREER grant in 2009 and a DOE Early Career Research Award in 2010.