New BioRay Lasers Enable Point-Of-Care Applications

A new series of compact, economical lasers from Coherent Inc. offer an unmatched combination of features and value to enable construction of space limited point-of-care and cost sensitive research instruments for a variety of life sciences and diagnostic applications. In particular, Coherent BioRay products are a line of diode lasers which include built-in collimating and focusing optics (to an elliptical beam), self-contained power supply and drive electronics, and on-board modulation, communications and self-monitoring electronics.These lasers are initially available at five visible wavelengths (405 nm, 450 nm, 488nm, 520 nm and 640 nm) with output powers as high as 50 mW.

BioRay products fill an important gap in the Life Sciences and Diagnostic laser market by offering superior performance and simplified integration over LED sources, while being a smaller and more economical alternative for those who don’t require all the functionality of more sophisticated lasers. Compared to the divergent output of a LED light source the collimated beam of the BioRay is much easier to condition and control. Plus, LEDs require an external current supply, while the BioRay needs only 12V input (and even that doesn’t need to be well conditioned).

Typical applications for BioRay lasers include clinical diagnostic applications, cell analyzers, sequencers, flow cytometers or microarray scanners. Their compact size, low heat output, small footprint and focusing optics make them particularly easy to integrate into these systems. Their excellent power stability minimizes the need for instrument recalibration, and their low noise output (<0.5% RMS from 20 Hz to 20 MHz) delivers higher accuracy measurements at low intensities.

About Coherent, Inc.
Founded in 1966, Coherent, Inc. is a world leader in providing photonics based solutions to the commercial and scientific research markets, and is part of the Standard & Poor’s SmallCap 600 Index and the Russell 2000. For more information, visit http://www.Coherent.com.