Türkçe

Analysis of Optically Pumped Semiconductor Laser Technology for Promoting the Development of Life Sciences

128
2024-02-01 17:46:30
Çeviriyi gör

Optically Pumped Semiconductor Lasers technology has achieved great success in the market due to its various unique advantages, with over 100000 OPSL devices currently operating in the market. This article introduces the application and new developments of OPSL in the fields of flow cytometry and DNA sequencing.

OPSL has the characteristics of flexible wavelength extension, adjustable power, compact size, high reliability, and high photoelectric conversion efficiency, and has been successfully applied in many life sciences. In addition, OPSL also features low noise, excellent beam quality, direct digital modulation, and fiber coupling options. Its compact structure and intelligent plug and play configuration make it easy to integrate. These characteristics make it perfectly suitable for the fields of flow cytometry and DNA sequencing.

Flow cytometry is an excellent tool for exploring, analyzing, counting, and classifying small particles, including blood cells. The main application areas of cell counting technology are clinical hematology/immunology, and the current relatively new application areas include biofuel research, epidemiology (such as Covid-19), oncology, stem cell research, and pharmaceuticals (supporting rapid high-throughput screening for drug development).

Figure 1 Within numerous flow cytometers, multiple focused lasers cross the flow cell. The photo was provided by Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Instrument manufacturers support these diverse applications through cost-effective desktop instruments. This type of desktop instrument has a universal platform and modular structure, making it easy to achieve factory customization. This modular structure typically includes up to 4 different lasers, a dozen (fluorescence and scattering) detection channels, and multiple input modes, such as microplates for drug development and conventional flow tubes for blood analysis.

It has been proven that plug and play compact laser modules based on OPSL technology (such as the Coherent OBIS series) are highly favored in this field, as these modules are not only convenient for factory customization, but also for instrument upgrades and on-site services. This is because regardless of the wavelength, each device possesses the same optical, mechanical, and electronic properties. The most commonly used wavelengths include 405 nm, 488 nm, 561 nm, and 637 nm. In addition, the digital modulation function of OPSL technology eliminates the cost and complexity of deploying external modulators, supports timing in flow cytometry, and enables multi wavelength laser excitation and detection. Equally important, for end-users from research to clinical use, OPSL's low noise and excellent directional stability can meet their needs for sensitivity and speed.

Instrument manufacturers also hope to improve the performance of multi parameter instruments by using new fluorescent dyes. In larger research instruments, they extend the excitation wavelength to ultraviolet light. The use of ultraviolet excitation expands the bandwidth of multi-color analysis/collection and avoids the use of fluorescent probes for chemical intervention of samples. This is because all living cells contain substances that naturally emit fluorescence after being exposed to ultraviolet light, such as NADH and DNA. For example, sperm can distinguish gender by the amount of endogenous DNA fluorescent substances.

The wavelength extension capability of OPSL technology can flexibly match the required wavelengths for applications, providing excellent support for these two application trends. In addition to OPSL technology, Coherent also uses some other technologies in the OBIS series, including laser diodes and frequency doubling praseodymium (Pr) technology. This allows OBIS series lasers to now have approximately 25 different wavelengths, including four ultraviolet wavelengths: 349 nm, 355 nm, 360 nm, and 375 nm.

The first reading of the human genome was carried out by multiple laboratories, each operating multiple sequencers over a period of more than 10 years, with a total investment of approximately $5 billion. Nowadays, some sequencers can interpret a complete human genome in just one afternoon, with a total cost of approximately $100 to $1000. The innovative technologies of instrument automation and large-scale parallelism have achieved this tremendous change. The new generation sequencer can simultaneously analyze up to hundreds of thousands of DNA strands. There are currently several methods in use, but all commonly used methods are based on laser excitation of fluorescent probes and markers.

Figure 2 Laser based fluorescence excitation is the main detection method in next-generation sequencers and third-generation sequencing technology. This method indicates the addition or reduction of specific bases by emitting wavelength, as shown in this original data trajectory map. The image is provided by Pacific BioSciences.

The scalability of wavelength and power is the main advantage of OPSL. Sequencing depends on whether the fluorescence of four chemical markers (fluorescent dyes) can be excited by laser, targeting one of the four DNA nucleotides ACGT. The accuracy of sequencing depends on whether the four fluorescent dyes can be distinguished, and the sequencing speed depends on whether they can be efficiently excited. Fully improving instrument efficiency means matching the excitation wavelength with the maximum absorption spectrum of each label, rather than attempting reverse matching.

Some methods for sequencing single chains have inherent low signal strength, in which case higher laser power is extremely necessary, especially for applications that often perform large-scale parallel sequencing. In contrast, to avoid losses, some methods only use milliwatt level power. The technological diversity of OBIS lasers is extremely advantageous.

Wavelength: 355nm-1154nm; Power: 10nW-20W

In summary, the application of continuous laser in the field of life sciences is diverse, and each application has a demand for specific lasers. It has been proven that the unique wavelength and power scalability of OPSL technology can effectively address this challenge, thus achieving great success in the market.

Source: Laser Net

İlgili öneriler
  • Semiconductor lasers will support both TE and TM modes

    Typically, for lasers in optical communication systems, waveguide designs are used to achieve a single transverse mode. By adjusting the thickness of the surrounding area of the cladding layer and the etching depth of the ridge in the ridge waveguide device, a single mode device can be obtained. The importance of lasers is reflected in the following aspects:A chip without ridge waveguide design an...

    2023-10-20
    Çeviriyi gör
  • Advancing Astronomy: Using Laser Guided Star Adaptive Optics to Obtain clearer celestial views

    Adaptive optics is defined as an advanced optical system used to correct the transmission medium between the subject and the image, providing users with clearer images. Adaptive optics helps to use a complex combination of deformable mirrors to correct images in real-time through distortion in the Earth's atmosphere. These images are of greater importance in many vertical industries such as health...

    2024-02-22
    Çeviriyi gör
  • Dublin City University has successfully tested the laser components of the next generation space navigation atomic clock

    The team collaborated with Eblana Photonics and Enlightra to showcase for the first time a new caliber laser, which will enable atomic clocks to be more efficient and compact for future satellite missions.This innovation addresses the key needs identified by the European Space Agency, which is the leading organization for the next generation of space navigation systems. This work was recently publ...

    2023-09-22
    Çeviriyi gör
  • Laser cladding method improves the surface performance of parts

    Laser cladding, also known as laser metal deposition, is a process of depositing one material onto another.When the laser beam scans the target surface, metal powder or wire flow is fed into the molten pool formed by the laser beam, thereby producing the required material coating.The laser cladding method improves the surface properties of the parts, such as wear resistance, and allows for the rep...

    2023-12-28
    Çeviriyi gör
  • More evidence of cosmic gravitational wave background: Laser interferometer gravitational wave observatory composed of two detectors

    The gravitational wave background was first detected in 2016. This was announced after the release of the first dataset by the European pulsar timing array. The second set of data has just been released, combined with the timed array of Indian pulsars, and both studies have confirmed the existence of the background. The latest theory seems to suggest that we are seeing a comprehensive signal of th...

    2024-05-21
    Çeviriyi gör