Coherent has expanded its Sapphire family of compact CW visible lasers with 532nm (green) lasers for DNA sequencing, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and high-throughput drug discovery.
The 532nm lasers are based on the company's OPSL technology.
Two models of the Sapphire 532 are being offered with a choice of either 200mW or 300mW output.
The 532nm lasers provide a high-quality TEM00 output beam characterised by low noise (0.25 per cent rms).
Their combination of compact packaging (125 x 70 x 34mm) and low power consumption is said to translate into easier integration and lower cost of ownership for OEM instrument builders.
The Sapphire 532 lasers have the same form, fit and function as existing Sapphire LP series lasers at other wavelengths such as 460nm, 488nm, 514nm, 561nm, and 568nm, simplifying incorporation of this new wavelength into existing instrument platforms.
Most traditional CW 532nm 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 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 utilise fluorophores optimised for 532nm excitation.
These include DNA sequencing, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and high-throughput drug discovery.
