In a recent webinar, PicoQuant has unveiled its latest laser innovation: the stand-alone, fully computer-controlled laser module Prima. “Our objective when developing Prima was to offer a solution to a common challenge faced by many researchers. They often need more than a single excitation wavelength to study all of their samples, but buying multiple lasers can become quite expensive. So we tapped our 25 years of expertise in laser development to create an affordable, compact module that can emit red, green, and blue light”, says Guillaume Delpont, Product Manager at PicoQuant.
Prima generates laser light at 635, 510, and 450 nm with each color being emitted individually, one at a time. These three wavelengths cover most of the excitation needs for daily lab tasks, such as lifetime or quantum yield measurements, photoluminescence, and fluorescence. The new laser module supports pulsed operation with repetition rates up to 200 MHz, continuous wave (CW) mode as well as fast switching CW capability with a rise/fall time of less than 3 ns. In pulsed mode, each wavelength can achieve an average optical output power of typically 5 mW, and up to 50 mW in CW mode.
Thanks to its stand-alone design, Prima does not require any additional laser driver. All settings and operating parameters are fully computer-controlled via an intuitive, Windows-based control software. Prima’s flexibility and ease of use make it a versatile yet affordable tool for many research applications in life or materials science.
