Upconversion fiber-optic confocal microscopy under near-infrared pumping.

We present a simple upconversion fiber-optic confocal microscope design using a near-infrared laser for pumping of a rare-earth-doped glass powder. The nonlinear optical frequency conversion process is highly efficient with more than 2% upconversion fluorescence efficiency at a near-infrared pumping wavelength of 1.55 microm. The upconversion confocal design allows the use of conventional Si detectors and 1.55 microm near-infrared pump light. The lateral and axial resolutions of the system were equal to or better than 1.10 and 13.11 microm, respectively.