Compact CUBE Lasers

Coherent Inc.

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Coherent Inc. has expanded its CUBE family of solid-state continuous-wave visible diode laser modules with three new wavelengths: 488 nm (50 mW), 685 nm (40 mW) and 730 nm (30 mW).

The compact laser heads measure only 100 × 40 × 40 mm, making them suitable for integration into instrumentation used for life sciences, metrology and inspection applications. The three new models are available with Center for Devices and Radiological Health safety accessories to enable stand-alone operation in laboratory settings.

Because they use direct diode technology, they offer advantages over other solid-state, continuous-wave, visible laser technologies, and they deliver an order of magnitude improvement in electrical efficiency and compactness over legacy ion lasers. They produce true circular output, M2 beam quality of ≤ 1.2 and low beam divergence, unlike typical modules that frequently produce elliptical beams.

This high beam quality lowers the cost and complexity of beam delivery optics, particularly where beam symmetry and/or fine focusing are important, and also enables the full output power to be used without lossy spatial filtering. Cost of integration is further lowered by the up to 150-MHz direct modulation capability, which often eliminates the need for an external modulator. System integration is simplified by the ability to control any of the models via both digital and analog interfaces.

The CUBE 488 is a direct replacement for ion lasers and higher cost solid-state lasers in fluorescence-based life sciences applications. The new 730-nm wavelength is intended for use in confocal microscopy and flow cytometry applications where it enables efficient excitation of new long-wavelength fluorophores. The 685- and 730-nm models are suitable for machine vision applications, where their long wavelength minimizes crosstalk with ambient lighting.

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Published: December 2010