Abstract

In general, second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy is used to image highly ordered structures in biological samples, like starch, collagen, myosin and tubulin. In an effort to expand the possible targets for SHG microscopy, a number of new fluorescent probes with high performance in SHG imaging were designed and synthesized. The design is based on an electron-rich carbazole template, functionalized with pyridinium-like acceptors, resulting in cyanine-like dyes. In this paper, we report on the linear and nonlinear optical characterization of one of these dyes and its applicability in microscopy using two-photon excited fluorescence (2PEF) and SHG to visualize the specificity of the dyes in HeLa cells.

© 2011 OSA/SPIE