Suppression of resonance Raman scattering via ground state depletion towards sub-diffraction-limited label-free microscopy

We report on the first experimental demonstration of the suppression of spontaneous Raman scattering via ground state depletion. The concept of Raman suppression can be used to achieve sub-diffraction-limited resolution in label-free microscopy by exploiting spatially selective signal suppression when imaging a sample with a combination of Gaussian- and donut-shaped beams and reconstructing a resolution-enhanced image from this data. Using a nanosecond pulsed laser source with an emission wavelength of 355 nm, the ground state of tris(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) molecules solved in acetonitrile was depleted and the spontaneous Raman scattering at 355 nm suppressed by nearly 50 %. Based on spectroscopic data retrieved from our experiment, we modeled the Raman image of a scattering center in order to demonstrate the applicability of this effect for superresolution Raman microscopy.