The OBIS Galaxy from Coherent, Inc. enables users to combine the outputs of up to eight separate lasers (spanning the 405 nanometre, nm, to 640nm wavelength range) into a single-mode fibre with plug-and-play simplicity. This single-mode polarisation-maintaining fibre-optic combiner will greatly simplify laser implementation in multi-wavelength applications, for both laboratory users and instrumentation original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), according to the company.
Using high-precision fibre-channel (FC) connectors, lasers can be replaced with more than 85% repeatability in power at the output fibre, enabling them to be “hot swapped” in the field either to add extra wavelengths or to upgrade the power at specific wavelengths. Furthermore, the OBIS Galaxy is designed as a flexible, open-architecture platform; it supports both direct plug-and-play with Coherent’s line of OBIS fibre-pigtailed (FP) smart laser modules and other visible lasers via an optional (high-precision FC to angled physical contact, APC) fibre-optic adaptor cable. Also, according to the company, the OBIS Galaxy operates over a wide temperature range (10°C to 50°C, or 50°F to 122°F) and is shock/vibration tested.
The stringent opto-mechanical requirements for single-mode fibre beam-coupling have traditionally made combining multiple fibre-coupled lasers a complex task. Typically, a highly stable, precision alignment system was required to align the laser to the fibre; combining multiple lasers required the cost and complexity of dichroic beam splitters, polarisers and wave plates at each successive laser wavelength. However, the OBIS Galaxy uses a cost-effective implementation of refractive, passive optical components and a novel fibre with a constant numerical aperture (NA) over the entire 405nm to 640nm range. This reduces the task to simple plug-and-play with FC connectors, according to Coherent.
The main applications for the OBIS Galaxy will be in bioinstrumentation, including flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, where multiple wavelengths enable simultaneous and/or tandem use of multiple fluorescent probes and markers. This will include new instruments and configurations, as well as providing an upgrade path for limited architecture instruments. For example, OBIS Galaxy can be connected to a single laser input port in a cytometer, converting it to eight ports, analogous to the use of a computer universal serial bus (USB) hub.
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