Coherent has expanded its Cube family of CW, visible diode laser modules with three new wavelengths - 488nm (50mW), 685nm (40mW) and 730nm (30mW) - suitable for life-science instrumentation.
The compact Cube laser heads measure 100 x 40 x 40mm (3.9 x 1.6 x 1.6in), making them suitable for integration into instrument used for life sciences, metrology and inspection applications.
Additionally, the new models are available with CDRH safety accessories, enabling standalone operation in laboratory settings.
Because they use direct diode technology, Cube lasers are said to offer advantages over other solid-state, CW, visible laser technologies, and they deliver an order of magnitude improvement in electrical efficiency and compactness over legacy ion lasers.
As with other Cube lasers, the new models deliver true circular output, good M2 (=1.2) and low beam divergence (unlike typical competitive modules, which frequently produce elliptical beams).
This high beam quality often lowers the cost and complexity of beam delivery optics, particularly where beam symmetry and/or fine focussing are important, and also enables the full output power to be used without lossy spatial filtering.
Cost of integration is said to be lowered further by the Cube's fast (up to 150MHz) direct modulation capability, which often eliminates the need for an external modulator.
System integration is simplified by the ability to control any Cube via both digital and analogue interfaces.
The Cube488 is a direct replacement for ion lasers and higher-cost solid-state lasers in fluorescence-based life-science applications.
The 730nm wavelength is intended for use in confocal microscopy and flow cytometry applications where it enables efficient excitation of long-wavelength fluorophores.
The 685nm and 730nm models are said to be suitable for machine-vision applications, where their long wavelength minimises cross-talk with ambient lighting.
