Coherent has introduced its new Chameleon Vision-S. The laser's combination of short (80fs) pulsewidths and the industry's highest average power and longest wavelength tuning range make it especially well suited to applications in multiphoton imaging. The laser delivers more than 410kW of usable peak power, after group velocity dispersion (GVD) precompensation, and hands-free tuning from 690nm to 1,050nm. The blend of short pulsewidths and high average power translate into the highest precompensated peak power currently available from any one-box laser.
Coherent states that its Chameleon Vision-S is an ideal laser for multiphoton excitation (MPE) imaging for several reasons: The laser's high peak power delivers maximum imaging brightness in deeper tissues, and because both laser oscillator and GVD precompensator are integrated on a single baseplate it also provides unmatched beam pointing stability (80µrad per 100nm of tuning), which is another prerequisite for deep tissue imaging.
The new laser's GVD precompensator provides seamless, hands-free adjustment of negative dispersion from zero up to a maximum of 43,000fs², enabling unmatched pulse duration flexibility at the sample, even in next generation microscopes with multiple AO modulators. These next generation microscopes provide fast scanning of selected image sectors in applications such as neuroscience that require high frame rates to follow dynamic events in real-time. Additionally, the circular TEM00 Gaussian output beam (M² < 1.1) maximises image resolution at any tissue depth.