Demonstration of Raman gain at 800 nm in single-mode fiber and its potential application to biological sensing and imaging

Optical amplification prior to photon-to-electron conversion improves detection sensitivity in spectroscopic and imaging applications. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of Raman amplification in a single-mode fiber at wavelengths near 800 nm. This approach can potentially enable fast real-time optical sensing and imaging in the wavelength band that benefits from both low water absorption and the availability of high-power Ti:Sapphire lasers.