[reformatted from earlier post]
I am interested in the possibility of using a white light source (e.g. xenon
arc lamp) with a spinning disk system. We are developing fluorescent
biosensors based on various GFP derivatives, and the spectral flexibility of
this approach over multiple lasers would be very helpful. It seems as though
the Yokogawa system with the microlenses would have the best light
throughput, but the input is adapted to a singlemode fiber from a laser.
I have seen two publications describing this application (both done with
pre-CSU-X1 models):
The first (
http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/csf/33/1/133/_pdf) uses the
output of a mercury lamp focused into a 1-mm multimode fiber attached to the
normal light input port of the CSU. It is not clear how efficient or
inefficient this is - i.e. how much of this large fiber core is seen by the
CSU input optics. This was done with a CSU10, and I wonder if the new
beam-shaping optics on the CSU-X1 would make this better or worse.
The second (
http://www.olympusconfocal.com/theory/noncoherentsources.html)
describes the use of a collimating lens and mirror, introduced into the CSU
at the location of the single excitation filter holder, to introduce light
from a liquid light guide into the optical path of the CSU, apparently after
the beam-shaping optics for the laser fiber. This approach requires a bit
more fabrication, and it is not clear to me whether this would even be
possible with the CSU-X1.
It seems (both from reading these sources and from manufacturers' specs)
that there should be plenty of light from a good xenon source. For instance,
the 300W xenon source (Lambda LS from Sutter Instruments) is quoted as
having ~500-700 mW of power in 25 nm width bands over the visible wavelength
range, and this is at the end of a 3mm liquid light guide.
I would be grateful for comments or suggestions about the feasibility of
this approach, or the best way to accomplish it.
Gary Yellen, Ph.D.
Department of Neurobiology
Harvard Medical School
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