Nonlinear imaging and photothermal effect with gold nanorods under radial polarisation illumination

Cancer has been a severe long-term threat to human's health. It is highly desirable to detect cancer cells at an early stage and destruct them without damage to healthy cells using low energy. Hong Kang explores a new laser mode to effectively enhance the localised and selective imaging of cancer cells. Furthermore, the incident energy threshold for cancer cell destruction with this laser mode can be reduced to less than one tenth of the medical safety level. The methodologies developed in her research provide an in-depth knowledge of understanding the laser effect on its enabled fields.