Choosing the best illumination wavelength for a given application is not always obvious. Many system variables must be considered to optimize a Raman spectroscopy experiment, and several of them are connected to the wavelength selection.
A vast number of experimental studies in that context call for high-quality continuous-wave (cw) laser light that is tunable throughout the visible spectral range, a region which is not straight forward to cover seamlessly with most of the common tunable laser designs. Alternative sources based on cw optical parametric oscillator (OPO) technology have become commercially available relatively recently only - and are gaining popularity remarkably quickly.
Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is an interferometry-based variant of quantitative phase imaging (QPI) that typically uses a laser as a coherent light source and provides QPI by detecting specimen-induced optical path length changes against the surrounding environment. DHM can be modularly integrated into common optical microscopes which allows its integration as a label-free imaging modality in research laboratories.
Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is an approach that has been well recognized and relies on strongly localized enhancement of Raman scattering of laser light at the point of a near atomically sharp tip. However, not least due to the lack of sources delivering laser light tunable throughout the visible spectral range, the vast majority of TERS experiments so far has been limited to single excitation wavelengths. Read about how a CW tuanble laser can help change this!
There are essentially 5 types of solid state laser technology which meet the need for long coherence length in order to write holograms or HOE´s. All offering unique wavelengths, either fixed or tunable and output powers from 10´s mW up to multiple watts.
In the field of biology it is a general consensus that cancerous cells often use other metabolic pathways, than corresponding healthy cells, and thereby consume less oxygen. Read our application note on TRAST microscopy for measuring oxygen concentration in cancerous cells.
Through the well-known Swedish laser manufacturer Cobolt AB, a proven supplier of high performance lasers of more than 15 years, HÜBNER Photonics division offers one of the industry’s broadest ranges of compact single-frequency CW lasers, diode lasers, multi-line lasers and Q-switched lasers across the full UV-Visible-NIR spectrum.
