Benninger Richard K P, Ashby William J, Ring Elisabeth A, Piston David W
Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.
Opt Lett. 2008 Dec 15;33(24):2895-7. doi: 10.1364/ol.33.002895.
We present the use and characterization of a photon-counting detector for increased sensitivity at low signal levels in fluorescence laser scanning microscopy (LSM). Conventional LSM photomultiplier tube detectors utilize analog current integration and thus suffer from excessive noise at low signal levels, introduced during current measurement. In this Letter we describe the implementation of a fast single-photon-counting (SPC) detector on a conventional two-photon laser scanning microscope and detail its use in imaging low fluorescence intensities. We show that for a low photon flux, the SPC detector is shot-noise limited and thus provides increased detection sensitivity compared with analog current integration.
我们展示了一种光子计数探测器在荧光激光扫描显微镜(LSM)中用于在低信号水平下提高灵敏度的应用和特性。传统的LSM光电倍增管探测器利用模拟电流积分,因此在电流测量过程中会在低信号水平下产生过多噪声。在本信函中,我们描述了在传统双光子激光扫描显微镜上实现快速单光子计数(SPC)探测器,并详细介绍了其在低荧光强度成像中的应用。我们表明,对于低光子通量,SPC探测器受散粒噪声限制,因此与模拟电流积分相比,提供了更高的检测灵敏度。