Posted by
Steve Ruzin on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/Changing-system-from-NIR-two-photon-to-UV-tp1694402p1695359.html
Hello Esteban:
I have a LSM 510 with a 365 UV laser (water cooled Ar laser). It's
coupled to the scan head via a quartz fiber. Inside the head is a
(factory) UV collimator lens. The objectives are all planNeo or Plan
Apo. We have no "UV" (Ultrafluor) lenses. The cost is considerable:
The laser is a Coherent Enterprise II system with a water-to-water
heat exchanger. The laser was >$60k, and is now obsolete. I have a
warranty directly from Coherent. To change your non-UV scan head
would require sending back to the factory (Germany, not the US) to
replace the primary dichroic, add a second fiber coupler, add the
collimator, add the UV AOTF (factory-installed at the output window
of the Coherent), and whatever other internal optics CZ requires.
Given that the Enterprise is obsolete, you'll probably have to go
with a UV diode, but they're not cheap either, and you still have the
fiber and the AOTF to contend with.
Steve...
>
>
>On 24/12/08 3:47 AM, "G. Esteban Fernandez"
><<>
[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>Hello all,
>
>On our Zeiss LSM 510 META two-photon system we have a Coherent
>Chameleon NIR laser that may need major repair. Coherent has been
>very good in providing remote technical assistance to us but we're
>at a point where a service visit is required and we're not under
>contract. Since we do more shallow imaging of UV dyes like DAPI on
>that system that two-photon imaging, we would replace the NIR laser
>with UV if it is more cost-effective than repairing the NIR. Zeiss
>says a switch from NIR to UV would require a major (and pricey)
>overhaul of the optics. I don't know what that entails but it is
>understandable given the huge difference in wavelength. However, I
>wonder how badly out of focus or aberrated the UV image would
>actually be with the optics that are already in place if we put a UV
>laser in there in place of the NIR; we do have a UV laser dichroic.
> Might it be good enough for at least localizing nuclei? (I do know
>how to do non-confocal UV imaging on the system) Can people advise
>on an NIR-to-UV swap of lasers?
>
>Thanks,
>Esteban
--
____________________________________________________________________________
Steven E. Ruzin, Ph.D.
Director, Biological Imaging Facility
381 Koshland Hall College of Natural Resources
University of California Berkeley CA 94720-3102
510-642-6602 510-642-4995
(fax)
http://microscopy.berkeley.edu