Visible and UV coherent Raman spectroscopy of dipicolinic acid
- Dmitry Pestov†,‡,
- Miaochan Zhi†,‡,
- Zoe-Elizabeth Sariyanni†,‡,
- Nikolai G. Kalugin†,‡,
- Alexandre A. Kolomenskii†,‡,
- Robert Murawski†,‡,
- Gerhard G. Paulus†,‡,
- Vladimir A. Sautenkov†,‡,
- Hans Schuessler†,‡,
- Alexei V. Sokolov†,‡,
- George R. Welch†,‡,
- Yuri V. Rostovtsev†,‡,
- Torsten Siebert§,
- Denis A. Akimov§,
- Stefanie Graefe§,
- Wolfgang Kiefer§, and
- Marlan O. Scully†,‡,¶,∥,††,‡‡
- †Institute for Quantum Studies and Departments of ‡Physics and ¶Chemical and Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4242; §Institut für Physikalische Chemie Universitaet Wuerzburg, 97074 Wuerzburg, Germany; ∥Princeton Institute for Science and Technology of Materials and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544; and ††Max-Planck-Institute für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
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Contributed by Marlan O. Scully, August 4, 2005
Abstract
We use time-resolved coherent Raman spectroscopy to obtain molecule-specific signals from dipicolinic acid (DPA), which is a marker molecule for bacterial spores. We use femtosecond laser pulses in both visible and UV spectral regions and compare experimental results with theoretical predictions. By exciting vibrational coherence on more than one mode simultaneously, we observe a quantum beat signal that can be used to extract the parameters of molecular motion in DPA. The signal is enhanced when an UV probe pulse is used, because its frequency is near-resonant to the first excited electronic state of the molecule. The capability for unambiguous identification of DPA molecules will lead to a technique for real-time detection of spores.
Footnotes
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↵ ‡‡ To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: scully{at}tamu.edu.
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Author contributions: Z.-E.S., N.G.K., G.G.P., V.A.S., A.V.S., G.R.W., Y.V.R., T.S., W.K., and M.O.S. designed research; D.P., M.Z., Z.-E.S., N.G.K., A.A.K., R.M., V.A.S., A.V.S., G.R.W., Y.V.R., T.S., D.A.A., S.G., and M.O.S. performed research; Z.-E.S., A.A.K., G.G.P., V.A.S., H.S., A.V.S., G.R.W., Y.V.R., T.S., S.G., W.K., and M.O.S. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; D.P., M.Z., Z.-E.S., N.G.K., A.A.K., R.M., G.G.P., V.A.S., A.V.S., G.R.W., Y.V.R., T.S., D.A.A., S.G., W.K., and M.O.S. analyzed data; and D.P., Z.-E.S., N.G.K., R.M., G.G.P., V.A.S., A.V.S., G.R.W., Y.V.R., T.S., S.G., W.K., and M.O.S. wrote the paper.
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Abbreviations: CARS, coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering; CSRS, coherent Stokes Raman scattering; DPA, dipicolinic acid; FFT, fast Fourier transform; FWM, four-wave-mixing; OPA, optical parametric amplifier; PMT, photomultiplier tube.
- Copyright © 2005, The National Academy of Sciences
