PicoQuant introduces non-descanned detection with excellent timing performance

PicoQuant, specialist in single photon counting applications, presents a new type of non-descanned detection (NDD) for its FLIM and FCS upgrade kit for laser scanning microscopes (LSMs). The recently developed NDD set-up includes a large core liquid light guide with high fluorescence transmission and Hybrid-PMT detectors that feature an excellent timing performance. It is available in a single or dual channel detector configuration and can be attached to both inverse and upright microscopes.

In the new NDD set-up, one or two Hybrid-PMT detectors can be connected to the LSM via a large core liquid light guide. The light guide is either mounted to a suited NDD port of the microscope or, alternatively, a specially developed dove-tail adapter is inserted into the DIC port of the microscope. The latter approach features a very high light collection efficiency of up to 80 % due to the light collection very near to the objective and the high fluorescence transmission in the liquid light guide.

The excellent timing performance of the NDD set-up is achieved by the Hybrid-PMTs that permit to resolve fluorescence lifetimes down to 50 ps. In addition, the detectors feature a high photon detection efficiency of up to 45 % at 500 nm, which even enables additional measurement modes like Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) for this type of NDD.

PicoQuant's FLIM and FCS upgrade kit is a complete set of instruments that can be adapted to all major LSMs in various configurations. The upgrade kit extends the capabilities of a LSM towards time-resolved measurements with a resolution down to picoseconds and allows users to perform various analysis methods on this time scale.

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• Press release: Non-descanned detection (zip, 493.85 KB )