Smart Lasers For Bioinstrumentation Feature Higher Power

The new OBIS LG series of products from Coherent Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) (Nasdaq: COHR) expands the company’s unique family of compact plug-and-play lasers to output powers as high as several Watts.  This higher power provides higher signal to noise and/or shorter data acquisition times in bioinstrumentation applications.  It also enables efficient frequency-tripling to deliver ultraviolet wavelengths.  The first of these OBIS LG models to be released include a green laser (532 nm) delivering 1 Watt of power, and an ultraviolet laser (355 nm) producing 20 mW of power.  Both of these new lasers are intended for OEM applications in bio-instrumentation, and deliver a TEM00 beam with near-perfect mode quality.

Like other Coherent OBIS lasers, these new models feature a compact laser head that integrates the laser cavity and all control electronics in a single package.  Together with highly consistent beam output characteristics, this enables true plug-and-play operation, simplifying laser integration, power upgrades, and wavelength additions to multi-laser instruments.  In order to ensure backwards compatibility and simplify OEM upgrades to this new level of functionality, OBIS LG lasers have the identical dimensions and mounting hole pattern as the company’s existing line of Sapphire visible and UV lasers (125 mm x 70 mm 37 mm) in this same power range. 

Both of these new OBIS LG models utilize Coherent’s optically pumped semiconductor laser (OPSL) technology, together with harmonic generation to achieve green or UV output.  Unlike UV sources based on diode laser technology, this laser delivers spectrally clean output with no long wavelength emission, and exceptionally low noise (0.25% RMS), making them ideal for fluorescence excitation.  And unlike UV lasers based on mode-locked architectures, OBIS LG lasers produce true CW output, completely avoiding high peak powers that can damage biological samples.

OBIS LG lasers are intended for OEM use in instrumentation.  Examples include flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, which will both benefit from the miniature size, built-in controller, and superior beam quality.  The 355 nm model provides a superior solid-state smart alternative to both first generation (DPSS) solid-state lasers and legacy gas lasers. 

Founded in 1966, Coherent, Inc. is a world leader in providing photonics based solutions to the commercial and scientific research markets and part of the Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 Index and the Russell 2000 Index.  Please direct any questions about this press release to Joris van Nunen, product line manager, at (408) 764-4117.  For more information about Coherent, including product and financial updates, visit our website at http://www.Coherent.com.