Green 532 nm laser for fluorescence microscopy

Coherent Inc. has added 532-nm (green) lasers to its Sapphire family of compact CW visible lasers, which are based on the company’s OPSL technology. Users can choose a model with an output of either 200 mW or 300 mW. Like others in the Sapphire line, the new lasers provide a high quality TEM00 output beam characterized by low noise (0.25 % rms). The company says that compact packaging (125 mm x 70 mm x 34 mm) combined with low power consumption allows easier integration and lower cost of ownership for OEM instrument builders. The 532-nm lasers have the same form, fit and function as existing Sapphire LP series lasers at other wavelengths.

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. The lasers are ideal for applications that use fluorophores with 532 nm excitation such as DNA sequencing, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and high-throughput drug discovery.

More information at www.coherent.com.