CVI: Getting the Word Out

Laura S. Marshall

CVI Melles Griot is working at SPIE Photonics West on getting the word out, not only about its new products but also about products with which people may not be familiar.

The company’s booth at the trade show is full of displays showing off various products, from optics to shutter products to informational displays on OCT and holography products. There’s even a laser marking demonstration at which visitors can have their names emblazoned on pens. “Nobody knows we sell a lot of products in this [laser marking] space,” said Lynore Abbott, marketing communications manager.

The same goes for optical trapping, which Abbott said is a growing segment, though not really commercial. “Nobody knows we make mounts,” she noted; that is why the company has devoted a display to optical trapping as well.

New announcements released at the show include the expansion of CVI Melles Griot’s filter products and services, from durable sputter coating filters to rapid prototyping and custom design services.

The company also has released new lenses in its FTL F-Theta Lens line. The new designs offer scan lengths from 160 to 218 mm, designed for compact laser markers that use 532-nm DPSS lasers. Abbott mentioned that there are growing applications for the F-Theta lens in biotech as well.

Its DPSS laser product line also has expanded with the introduction of the RHS series laser, which delivers red light: 300 mW at 660 nm. The laser is based on CVI Melles Griot’s BLS platform single-mode blue laser. Applications for this laser include DNA imaging, ophthalmology and metrology.

Another new laser product is the CRH Lite family of diode laser modules. The CRH Lite uses an analog controller that is built into the laser head, unlike the standard CRH package, which uses an external microprocessor driver controller. The result, according to CVI Melles Griot, is lower total system cost and a smaller footprint, and the product is available with most commercial diode lasers in varying wavelengths. The CRH Lite products can be used for metrology, confocal microscopy and flow cytometry.

Laura S. Marshall
laura.marshall@photonics.com