Enhancing signal-to-noise ratio in stimulated Brillouin microscopy with low duty cycle nanosecond pulses

Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) is a valuable technique for studying the mechanical properties of biological samples. We propose a novel scheme utilizing low duty cycle, nanosecond pulses for pump and probe beams. Our approach achieves higher signal-to-noise (SNR) than SBS microscopy and continuous-wave Brillouin microscopy, even with reduced average power exposure. Experimental results demonstrate a shot noise-limited SNR exceeding 1000 with precise mapping of cellular features. The interlaced boxcar method effectively retrieves the SBS signal, while optimizing pulse width and peak power further enhances optical power efficiency. This pulse scheme offers improved precision and reduced laser power exposure compared to spontaneous Brillouin and continuous wave (cw) SBS approaches.