Harmonic nanocrystals for biolabeling: a survey of optical properties and biocompatibility.

Davide Staedler, Thibaud Magouroux, Rachid Hadji, Cécile Joulaud, Jérôme Extermann, Sebastian Schwung, Solène Passemard, Christelle Kasparian, Gareth Clarke, Mathias Gerrmann, Ronan Le Dantec, Yannick Mugnier, Daniel Rytz, Daniel Ciepielewski, Christine Galez, Sandrine Gerber-Lemaire, Lucienne Juillerat-Jeanneret, Luigi Bonacina, Jean-Pierre Wolf

Index: ACS Nano 6(3) , 2542-9, (2012)

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Abstract

Nonlinear optical nanocrystals have been recently introduced as a promising alternative to fluorescent probes for multiphoton microscopy. We present for the first time a complete survey of the properties of five nanomaterials (KNbO(3), LiNbO(3), BaTiO(3), KTP, and ZnO), describing their preparation and stabilization and providing quantitative estimations of their nonlinear optical response. In the light of their prospective use as biological and clinical markers, we assess their biocompatibility on human healthy and cancerous cell lines. Finally, we demonstrate the great potential for cell imaging of these inherently nonlinear probes in terms of optical contrast, wavelength flexibility, and signal photostability.© 2012 American Chemical Society