Picosecond Pulsed Sources
Prima NEW
3-Color Picosecond Laser
- 3-Color Picosecond Laser (450, 515, 640 nm)
- Compact, stand alone, affordable
- Pulsed and cw operation, fast cw switching
- Triggerable internally and externally, up to 200 MHz
- Fully computer controlled
Get in touch
Sneak peak webinar
Prima – A new multiple color pulsed diode laser
by Guillaume Delpont, Product Manager
Recording available on request
Prima - 3-Color Picosecond Laser
Prima is a compact, stand-alone, and affordable laser module offering 3 individual emission wavelengths that can be operated in picosecond pulsed and continuous wave (CW) mode. The picosecond pulses can be triggered either by the module’s internal clock or by an external oscillator at up to 200 MHz. The module is fully computer controlled, making its operation very easy: Connect Prima to a PC via an USB port and all changes in operation parameters can be done via a convenient software interface.
Our experience at your service
A common challenge faced by many researchers is that more than one excitation wavelength is needed to cover all of their samples. But purchasing multiple laser heads or even a laser combiner can be quite expensive. We at PicoQuant have applied our 25 years of expertise in developing and manufacturing picosecond diode lasers to this challenge. This resulted in Prima, a compact and affordable solution that covers your essential excitation needs using 3 primary colors.
Red, green, and blue: the three most useful wavelengths
Prima provides laser light at three wavelengths: 640, 515, and 450 nm. Each color can be generated individually, one at a time. These wavelengths are the 3 most commonly used in material science, chemistry and life science for routine excitation in spectroscopy or microscopy applications to study a wide range of samples, including novel nanomaterials, quantum dots, molecules, and fluorophores.
Prima is the perfect tool: Capable of covering most of your needs when it comes to daily lab tasks, such as lifetime or quantum yield measurements, photoluminescence and fluorescence.
Pulsed, CW, and fast switched emission modes
No matter what type of operation mode you need, Prima offers full flexibility, enabling time-resolved or steady-state measurements as well as use of fast CW switching capability. The pulsed mode can be driven either internally at selected repetition rates between 100 Hz to 200 MHz or externally, with rates ranging from single shot up to 200 MHz.
Each wavelength can achieve an average optical output power of typ. 5 mW. In CW mode, higher average power (up to 50 mW) can be reached for each individual wavelength. Switching the CW emission between ON and OFF states has a rise/fall time of less than 3 ns.
While constant repetition rates can be set internally, burst excitation patterns can be triggered from a suitable trigger source (such as e.g., the oscillator module of PicoQuant’s Sepia PDL 828). You can even combine Prima with other laser diode heads to create even more sophisticated excitation patterns, including not only bursts but also Pulse Interleaved Excitation (PIE) or Alternative Laser Excitation (ALEX).
This makes Prima a versatile tool that can be used in many environments.
Easy to use
Being a stand alone module, Prima does not require any additional laser driver. Settings and operating parameters are fully computer controlled via a intuitive control software based on the well-known Sepia graphic user interface.
General specifications (preliminary)
| Optical out | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Available wavelengths1 [nm] | 450 | 515 | 640 |
| Max pulsed power2 [mW] | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Pulse duration [ps] | < 120 | < 200 | < 150 |
| Max CW power [mW] | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Beam dimension3 [mm] | 0.55 ± 0.10 | 0.6 ± 0.10 | 0.8 ± 0.10 |
| Beam circularity | typ. > 0.5 | typ. > 0.5 | typ. > 0.5 |
| Polarization | typ. linear | ||
| Polarization Extinction Ratio (PER) | typ. > 1:10 (> 10 dB) | ||
| Spectral width FWHM [nm] (pulsed) | 4 nm | 6 nm | 2 nm |
| Spectral width FWHM [nm] (CW) | < 1 nm | ||
| Repetition rates | |||
| Internal | |||
| Range | User selectable 1 kHz to 200 MHz 1000 increments of 1 kHz from 1 to 999 kHz 200 increments of 1 MHz from 1 to 200 MHz |
||
| External | |||
| Range | 0 Hz to 200 MHz | ||
| Trigger level | -1V ... +5V into 50 Ohm | ||
| Jitter | < 20 ps | ||
| Connector | SMA | ||
| Synchronization output | |||
| Amplitude | < -800 mV into 50 Ohm (NIM) | ||
| Connector | SMA | ||
| Gating | |||
| Rise / Fall Time | < 3 ns | ||
| ON Time Gate | freely adjustable from < 10 ns to 1 ms | ||
| OFF Time Gate (as a factor of ON Time Gate) |
freely adjustable from 1 to 255 | ||
| Impedance | 10 kOhms with pull-up 50 Ohms with pull-down |
||
| Connector | SMA | ||
| Dimensions | |||
| Size (h x w x l) | 75 x 83 x 140 mm | ||
| Weight | approx. 1 kg | ||
| Operation | |||
| Temperature range | 15 – 35 °C | ||
| Rel. humidity | < 80 % (non condensing) | ||
| Maximum power consumption | < 30 W | ||
| Interface | |||
| PC interface | USB 2.0 | ||
| Connector | USB-C | ||
| Operating system | WindowsTM 10 | ||
1 Typical value in Pulsed mode. A slight shift to longer wavelengths in CW mode.
2 This is the maximum average power at maximum intensity setting and max repetition rate. A pulse broadening up to 500 ps FWHM is possible at maximum intensity setting.
3 Measured at 1 m distance from laser aperture.
All Information given here is reliable to our best knowledge. However, no responsibility is assumed for possible inaccuracies or omissions. Specifications and external appearances are subject to change without notice.
The Prima 3-Color Picosecond Laser can be used for various applications. It is the ideal tool for covering most of your daily needs when it comes to exciting a broad range of samples for tasks such as
- Materials Science and chemical research
- Life Science
- Photoluminescence lifetime and quantum yield measurements
- Fluorescence lifetime measurements
- Time-resolved microscopy and single molecule detection (FLIM, FRET, PIE-FRET, FCS)
- Pulsed Interleaved Excitation (PIE)
- Detector testing
- Antibunching
- LiDAR
