Jan 29 2010
Coherent, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) (Nasdaq: COHR) has expanded their Sapphire™ family of compact CW visible lasers with 532 nm (green) lasers based on the company’s unique OPSL technology.
Two models of the Sapphire 532 are being offered with a choice of either 200 mW or 300 mW output. As with other Sapphire lasers, these new 532 nm lasers provide a high quality TEM00 output beam characterized by low noise (0.25 % rms). Their combination of compact packaging (125 mm x 70 mm x 34 mm) and low power consumption translates into easier integration and lower cost of ownership for OEM instrument builders. Plus these Sapphire 532 lasers have the same form, fit and function as existing Sapphire LP series lasers at other wavelengths such as 460 nm, 488 nm, 514 nm, 561 nm, and 568 nm, simplifying incorporation of this new wavelength into existing instrument platforms.
Most traditional CW 532 nm lasers based on Nd:YVO4 crystals suffer from higher output noise because the intracavity doubling mechanism causes a well-known phenomenon called green noise. In contrast, the OPSL has a very short upper state lifetime which naturally eliminates green noise completely without additional measures such as complex single longitudinal mode operation. Together with their high output power, this makes these Sapphire 532 lasers ideal for fast-throughput applications based on accurate measurements of relative fluorescence intensity.
Specific applications for Sapphire 532 lasers span several areas of bio-instrumentation that utilize fluorophores optimized for 532 nm excitation. These include DNA sequencing, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and high-throughput drug discovery.