Confocal and nonlinear optical microscopy

Ping-Chin Cheng

Dr. Cheng is an expert in confocal and nonlinear optical microscopy. He works with many collaborators and a broad range of samples. There are quite a few journal covers featuring his work.

 

             

              His recent studies included nonlinear bio-photonic crystal effects revealed with multimodal nonlinear microscopy in which highly optically active nonlinear bio-photonic crystalline and semicrystalline structures in living cells were studied by a novel multimodal nonlinear microscopy. Numerous biological structures, including stacked membranes and aligned protein structures are highly organized on a nanoscale and have been found to exhibit strong optical activities through second-harmonic generation (SHG) interactions, behaving similarly to man-made nonlinear photonic crystals. The microscopic technology used in this study is based on a combination of different imaging modes including SHG, third-harmonic generation, and multiphoton-induced fluorescence. With no energy release during harmonic generation processes, the nonlinear-photonic-crystal-like SHG activity is useful for investigating the dynamics of structure–function relation-ships at subcellular levels and is ideal for studying living cells, as minimal or no preparation is required.