SHG microscopy excited by polarization controlled beam for three-dimensional molecular orientation measurement

We have developed a second-harmonic-generation (SHG) microscope to observe the three-dimensional molecular orientation with three-dimensional high spatial resolution using a polarization mode converter. The mode converter consists of a parallel-aligned nematic-liquid-crystal spatial-light-modulator (PAL-SLM) and quarter-waveplates, and converts a incident linearly polarized beam to orthogonal linearly polarized beams or radially polarized beam. We combined the mode converter with SHG microscope to obtain the local information of the three-dimensional molecular orientation. We demonstrated the detection of three-dimensional molecular orientation of collagen fiber in human Achilles' tendon. For high precision three-dimensional molecular orientation measurement, we propose a technique to calibrate the dependence of SHG detection efficiencies on molecular orientation using a liposome.