Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering imaging using silicon photomultipliers.

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are an emerging solid-state alternative to photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) for low light detection, with similar gain but lower cost and lower operating voltage. We demonstrate coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) imaging in a side-by-side comparison of an uncooled SiPM with an uncooled multialkali PMT as well as a state-of-the-art cooled GaAsP PMT. We determine the optimum reverse-bias voltage for acquiring the best signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for CARS imaging of lipids at ${2850}\;{{\rm cm}^{ - 1}}$2850cm