Re: which multiline gas laser should I buy

Posted by David Baddeley on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/which-multiline-gas-laser-should-I-buy-tp6401184p6401227.html

you should take a bit of time to convince yourself that it w
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Hi Yuval,

you should take a bit of time to convince yourself that it will really be
cheaper, over the lifetime of your instrument. Ar/Kr lasers are notorious for
having relatively short service lifetimes before the tube needs replacing (most
of the cost of a new laser). I think the Ar/Kr on our confocal in needed to be
replaced 2 or 3 times during the course of my doctorate. Solid state lasers are
getting pretty cheap these days, and are going to be much more reliable. The
only situation where I'd contemplate a gas laser (and particularly an Ar/Kr) now
was if I needed a very long coherence length for interferometry.

cheers,
David


----- Original Message ----
From: Yuval Ebenstein <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Wed, 25 May, 2011 12:28:42 PM
Subject: which multiline gas laser should I buy

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Hello,
I'm looking for a cheaper alternative for a high power solid-state laser
combiner.
I'm thinking of buying an Ar/Kr (which gives almost every excitation line I can
think of) and I can't decide between the Innova 70c-spectrum from Coherent and
the Stabilite 2018-RM from Spectra-physics. They are quite similar on paper but
the spectra one is cheaper. I heard much about the robustness of the Coherent
model.
Anyone has experience with one of these? Anything special I should look for?
Many thanks
Yuval

-- --------------------------------------
Yuval Ebenstein
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA
Young Hall-2002, 607 Charles E. Young Drive East
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569
Ph: [phone]; Fax: [phone]