Solid State Light Engines - Commercial Response

[Benjamin Freiberg]

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Microscopy Community:

I too have been following threads regarding LEDs for some time and it has brought forth some interesting conversation, in addition to highlighting what may be some confusion.  The discussion should include the variety of solid-state illumination that exists in life sciences today and the fact that not all solid-state sources are purely LED based.

The primary reason the performance differs among the newest of life science light engines- 89North's Heliophor, Lumen Dynamic's XLED and Lumencor's SPECTRA light engine - is that the technologies used to produce the light are different. While all products employ solid state sources, the specific technologies are unique for each product. Side-by-side comparisons through the same bandpass filters, within the same microscope body and using the same optical delivery vehicle, (for example the commonly used liquid light guide), consistently show that the performance in terms of power or intensity differs for each of these lighting products.

The various products distinguish themselves by
the solid-state sources they employ,
the spectral properties of those sources,
the number of wavelengths that are available throughout the UV-VIS-NIR,
the power and intensity they can deliver,
the overall size and footprint of the product as well as
the product's abilities to service high- and low-level lighting applications.

Lumencor's light engines are uniquely powerful and bright in the green portion of the spectrum, 500 - 600 nm, where LEDs are notorious for the "green gap", low light levels. Lumencor's sources produce high intensity light over a relatively broad portion of the spectrum (50-100 nm) so their outputs are spectrally tunable. The optimization required to use these light engines demands the same consideration as for any other source: a consideration of the emission spectra of the sources and their overlap with the transmission spectra of the excitation filters. This must be considered in conjunction with the number and identity of multiple outputs when needed and the associated dichroics and emission filters of the family of fluorophors within a given experiment. The performance of traditional lamps and lasers have significantly different spectra from the outputs of these new sorts of illuminators.

Lumencor's SOLA light engine, mentioned in a previous thread, is able to produce full spectrum white light from 370-660nm. Independent tests have verified our initial findings that SOLA produces equal or higher intensity light to a 120W metal halide lamp as imaged at the sample plane. The relevant studies and comparisons can only be performed using filters optimized for the SOLA light engine versus filters optimized for, as an example, a metal halide lamp.

In my opinion the ultimate solution for solid-state imaging will not be delivered by a single company.  Rather it is through collaborative efforts between microscope manufacturers, filter manufacturers and light-engine manufactures that the most highly optimized systems for research will be envisioned and produced. These state of the art tools will allow the community to move away from traditional arc-lamp based systems with confidence.

Sincerely,

Ben Freiberg

Benjamin A. Freiberg, Ph.D. | Global Director, Reseller Sales| Lumencor, Inc.
14964 NW Greenbrier Parkway, Beaverton, OR  97006 USA | T 303.900.8022 | E [hidden email] | W www.lumencor.com

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