Abstract
A coaxial thermal lens microscope was used to generate images based on both the absorbance and thermal diffusivity of histological samples. A pump beam was modulated at frequencies ranging from to using an acousto-optic modulator. The pump and a CW probe beam were combined with a dichroic mirror, directed into an inverted microscope, and focused onto the specimen. The change in the transmitted probe beam’s center intensity was detected with a photodiode. The photodiode’s signal and a reference signal from the modulator were sent to a high-speed lock-in amplifier. The in-phase and quadrature signals were recorded as a sample was translated through the focused beams and used to generate images based on the amplitude and phase of the lock-in amplifier’s signal. The amplitude is related to the absorbance and the phase is related to the thermal diffusivity of the sample. Thin sections of stained liver and bone tissues were imaged; the contrast and signal-to-noise ratio of the phase image was highest at frequencies from and dropped at higher frequencies. The spatial resolution was for both amplitude and phase images, limited by the pump beam spot size.
© 2011 Optical Society of America
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