Multi-Photon Excitation Microscopy: An Old Idea in Quantum Theory Applied to Modern Scientific Problems

Multi-photon excitation microscopy provides attractive advantages over confocal microscopy for three-dimensionalry resolved fluorescence imaging and photochemistry. The most commonly used type of multi-photon excitation is two-photon excitation where simultaneous absorption of two photons leads to a single quantitized event. The powerful advantages of using two-photon excitation microscopy arise from the basic physical principle that the absorption depends on the square of the excitation intensity. In practice, two-photon excitation is generated by focusing a single pulsed laser through the microscope. As the laser beam is focused, the photons become more crowded, but the only place at which they are crowded enough to generate an appreciable amount of two-photon excitation is at the focus. Above and below the focus, the photon density is not high enough for two of them to interact with a single fluorophore at the same time. This dramatic difference between confocal and two-photon excitation microscopy is shown in Fig. 1.

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Two-photon excitation microscopy in cellular biophysics

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100136684 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 53 ◽

pp. 62-63

Author(s):

David W. Piston ◽

Brian D. Bennett ◽

Robert G. Summers

Keyword(s):

Confocal Microscopy ◽

Laser Beam ◽

Duty Cycle ◽

Excited Electronic State ◽

Input Power ◽

Two Photon ◽

Simultaneous Absorption ◽

Photon Excitation ◽

Very High ◽

Two Photon Excitation

Two-photon excitation microscopy (TPEM) provides attractive advantages over confocal microscopy for three-dimensionally resolved fluorescence imaging and photochemistry. Two-photon excitation arises from the simultaneous absorption of two photons in a single quantitized event whose probability is proportional to the square of the instantaneous intensity. For example, two red photons can cause the transition to an excited electronic state normally reached by absorption in the ultraviolet. In practice, two-photon excitation is made possible by the very high local instantaneous intensity provided by a combination of diffraction-limited focusing of a single laser beam in the microscope and the temporal concentration of 100 femtosecond pulses generated by a mode-locked laser. Resultant peak excitation intensities are 106 times greater than the CW intensities used in confocal microscopy, but the pulse duty cycle of 10-5 maintains the average input power on the order of 10 mW, only slightly greater than the power normally used in confocal microscopy.

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Two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy in living systems

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100146618 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 154-155 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David W. Piston

Keyword(s):

Confocal Microscopy ◽

Fluorescence Microscopy ◽

Singlet State ◽

Excited Electronic State ◽

Input Power ◽

Two Photon ◽

Simultaneous Absorption ◽

Photon Excitation ◽

Very High ◽

Two Photon Excitation

Two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy provides attractive advantages over confocal microscopy for three-dimensionally resolved fluorescence imaging. Two-photon excitation arises from the simultaneous absorption of two photons in a single quantitized event whose probability is proportional to the square of the instantaneous intensity. For example, two red photons can cause the transition to an excited electronic state normally reached by absorption in the ultraviolet. In our fluorescence experiments, the final excited state is the same singlet state that is populated during a conventional fluorescence experiment. Thus, the fluorophore exhibits the same emission properties (e.g. wavelength shifts, environmental sensitivity) used in typical biological microscopy studies. In practice, two-photon excitation is made possible by the very high local instantaneous intensity provided by a combination of diffraction-limited focusing of a single laser beam in the microscope and the temporal concentration of 100 femtosecond pulses generated by a mode-locked laser. Resultant peak excitation intensities are 106 times greater than the CW intensities used in confocal microscopy, but the pulse duty cycle of 10−5 maintains the average input power on the order of 10 mW, only slightly greater than the power normally used in confocal microscopy.

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High Throughput Screening with Multiphoton Excitation

CrossRef Listing of Deleted DOIs ◽

10.1177/108705719900400610 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 4 (6) ◽

pp. 355-361 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Joseph R. Lakowicz ◽

Ignacy Gryczynski ◽

Zygmunt Gryczynski

Keyword(s):

High Throughput ◽

High Throughput Screening ◽

Focal Point ◽

Incident Beam ◽

Photon Flux ◽

Multiphoton Excitation ◽

Two Photon ◽

Simultaneous Absorption ◽

Photon Excitation ◽

Two Photon Excitation

Fluorescence detection is extensively used in high throughput screening. In HTS there is a continuous migration toward higher density plates and smaller sample volumes. In the present report we describe the advantages of two-photon or multiphoton excitation for HTS. Multiphoton excitation (MPE) is the simultaneous absorption of two long-wavelength photons to excite the lowest singlet state of the fluorophore. MPE is typically accomplished with short but high-intensity laser pulses, which allows simultaneous absorption of two or more photons. The intensity of the multiphoton-induced fluorescence is proportional to the square, cube, or higher power of the instantneous photon flux. Consequently, two-photon or multiphoton excitation only occurs at the focal point of the incident beam. This property of two-photon excitation allows the excited volume to be very small and to be localized in the center of each well in the HTS plate. We show that two-photon-induced fluorescence of fluorescein can be reliably measured in microwell plates. We also show the use of 6-carboxy fluorescein as a pH probe with two-photon excitation, and measure 4′-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) binding and two-photon-induced fluorescence. In further studies we measure the time-dependent intensity decays of DAPI bound to DNA and of calcium-dependent fluorophores. Finally, we demonstrate the possibility of three-photon excitation of several fluorophores, including indole, in the HTS plate. These results suggest that MPE can be used in high-density multiwell plates.

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Imaging of Cellular Dynamics by Two-Photon Excitation Microscopy

Microscopy and Microanalysis ◽

10.1017/s1431927695110259 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 25-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

David W. Piston ◽

Brian D. Bennett ◽

Guangtao Ying

Keyword(s):

Uv Light ◽

Excited Electronic State ◽

Red Light ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Focal Volume ◽

Optical Sectioning ◽

Two Photon ◽

Simultaneous Absorption ◽

Photon Excitation ◽

Two Photon Excitation

Two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy provides attractive advantages over confocal microscopy for three-dimensionally resolved fluorescence imaging. Two-photon excitation arises from the simultaneous absorption of two photons in a single quantitized event whose probability is proportional to the square of the instantaneous intensity. For example, two red photons (∼700 nm) can cause the transition to an excited electronic state normally reached by absorption in the ultraviolet (∼350 nm). In the fluorescence experiments described here, the final excited state is the same singlet state that is populated during a conventional fluorescence experiment. Thus, the fluorophore exhibits the same emission properties (e.g., wavelength shifts, environmental sensitivity) used in typical biological microscopy studies. Three properties of two-photon excitation give this method its advantage over conventional optical sectioning microscopies: (1) the excitation is limited to the focal volume, thus providing inherent three-dimensional resolution and minimizing photobleaching and photodamage; (2) the two-photon technique allows imaging of UV fluorophores with only conventional visible light optics; (3) red light is far less damaging to most living cells and tissues than UV light and permits deeper sectioning, because both absorbance and scattering are reduced. Many cell biological applications of two-photon excitation microscopy have been successfully realized, demonstrating the wide ranging power of this technique.

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Two‐photon excitation fluorescence microscopy using a semiconductor laser

Bioimaging ◽

10.1002/1361-6374(199506)3:2<70::aid-bio3>3.3.co;2-n ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 70-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Pekka E Hänninen ◽

Martin Schrader ◽

Erkki Soini ◽

Stefan W Hell

Keyword(s):

Fluorescence Microscopy ◽

Semiconductor Laser ◽

Two Photon ◽

Photon Excitation ◽

Two Photon Excitation

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Two-Photon Excitation Imaging of Glucose Metabolism in Living Tissue

Microscopy and Microanalysis ◽

10.1017/s1431927600008412 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 3 (S2) ◽

pp. 305-306

Author(s):

David W. Piston

Keyword(s):

Confocal Microscopy ◽

Collection Efficiency ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Spatial Filter ◽

Input Power ◽

Photon Absorption ◽

Focal Volume ◽

Two Photon ◽

Photon Excitation ◽

Two Photon Excitation

Two-photon excitation microscopy (TPEM) provides attractive advantages over confocal microscopy for three-dimensionally resolved fluorescence imaging and photochemistry. It provides three-dimensional resolution and eliminates background equivalent to an ideal confocal microscope without requiring a confocal spatial filter, whose absence enhances fluorescence collection efficiency. This results in inherent submicron optical sectioning by excitation alone. In practice, TPEM is made possible by the very high local instantaneous intensity provided by a combination of diffraction-limited focusing of a single laser beam in the microscope and the temporal concentration of 100 femtosecond pulses generated by a mode-locked laser. Resultant peak excitation intensities are 106 times greater than the CW intensities used in confocal microscopy, but the pulse duty cycle of 10−5 limits the average input power to less than 10 mW, only slightly greater than the power normally used in confocal microscopy. Because of the intensity-squared dependence of the two-photon absorption, the excitation is limited to the focal volume.

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