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> Hello everyone,
>
> In my lab we have two microscope setups in two different rooms separated
> by a hallway between them. One of our microscopes has a free-space laser
> that must remain in place; however, I would like to use this laser with the
> microscope located in the other room while maintaining its ability to be
> used with its current microscope. Both microscopes accept free-space beams
> as inputs for fluorescence microscopy in an epi-illumination geometry.
>
> I am considering the following solution: introduce a flipper mirror before
> the fixed laser to allow me to switch between a path that would send the
> beam into its current microscope and another path that would couple the
> beam into a long multi-mode fiber. I would then run the fiber above the
> ceiling panels between the labs and onto the table of the other setup,
> where the output light would be collimated and introduced like normal into
> the other microscope. I do not require a single-mode beam for the second
> microscope. In fact, I am proposing to use a multi-mode beam to achieve a
> better power coupling efficiency into the fiber and to prevent burning the
> fiber cladding by allowing for larger focal spot sizes when coupling. I
> also am not concerned about the speckle on the sample since I am averaging
> over multiple speckle patterns during the acquisition of a single frame.
>
> My primary concern is the stability of the input and output couplers. The
> microscopes are used by people with little optics experience and this
> solution must be as easy as possible to switch between the two paths.
> Ideally, the only action required would be to flip the mirror up or down
> (after the initial alignment, of course).
>
> Here are my questions:
> 1. Has anyone tried such an approach with satisfactory results and would
> be willing to comment?
> 2. Would vibration of the fiber significantly affect its propagation
> direction upon leaving the output coupler?
> 3. Would a "standard" flipper mirror or magnetic mount have sufficient
> return accuracy to avoid having to adjust the input coupler alignment every
> time we switched between microscopes?
> 4. Is there another obvious solution I am missing?
>
> Thanks for the responses!
> Kyle
>
> --
> Kyle M. Douglass, PhD
> Post-doctoral researcher
> The Laboratory of Experimental Biophysics
> EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
>
http://kmdouglass.github.io>
http://leb.epfl.ch>
Joshua C. Vaughan