Re: which multiline gas laser should I buy

Posted by Csúcs Gábor on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/which-multiline-gas-laser-should-I-buy-tp6401184p6401931.html

*****
To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
*****

Dear Yuval,


Unfortunately I can't directly answer your question, whether you should
buy your laser from Coherent or SpectraPhysics. We have a SpectraPhysics
BeamLok 2080 Ar/Kr laser on our spinning disk and we just want to go the
opposite way - we are exchanging it to a solid state laser combiner.
Actually already now we are using a hybrid solution as the 568nm line of
the Ar/Kr laser seems to be notoriously dying after a very short period
(max 500-1000 h). So after using two lasers and refurbishing tubes 2x we
just decided to use the strong and stable lines of the Ar/Kr laser (mainly
the 488 and the 647) and for the green excitation we use a separate 561nm
laser. But soon we want to switch to the combiner solution.
As summary: I have no idea about the longevity of the Coherent laser, but
the above mentioned SpectraPhysiscs model was not our best investment (at
least for some very important lines).

Cheers    Gabor

>
>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]