Filter boasts unprecedented UV performance

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Jan 25, 2005

Semrock claims its new 325nm MaxLine laser-line filter has unprecedented UV performance.

Semrock claims its new 325nm MaxLine laser-line filter has unprecedented UV performance.

This filter boasts 65% peak transmission at the laser line, as compared with the previous industry norm of less than 25%, while rapidly rolling off to an optical density (OD) 5 at wavelengths differing by only 1% from the laser wavelength.

The 325nm wavelength corresponds to a popular line of the helium-cadmium (HeCd) laser.

This MaxLine filter is ideally complemented by Semrock's best-selling 325nm RazorEdge filter, which offers the highest optical discrimination when used with the corresponding detection systems.

To also support HeCd laser applications which use the popular 441.6nm line, Semrock has now introduced a high-performance 441.6nm MaxLine filter with 90% peak transmission, and a deep-blocking, highly versatile StopLine notch filter with OD 6 attenuation of the 441.6nm line.

These join Semrock's 441.6 nm RazorEdge filter.

These filters now make it possible to expand the use of HeCd lasers for a number of demanding applications, and they make the most efficient use of the available light.

They are ideal for Raman spectroscopy, especially when it is critical to obtain information very close to the laser line.

For the most sensitive and specific fluorescence measurements, the filters make it possible to essentially completely eliminate all light except the laser line before the sample and the laser line itself after the sample.

"Traditionally users of even the highest-performance optical filters for UV wavelengths have had to settle for poor transmission due to materials absorption and coating technology limitations", commented Semrock's CTO Turan Erdogan.

"With these new filters, there is no more unnecessary wasting of precious UV laser light".

These new filters have the same proven reliability of all Semrock filters - they are made exclusively with hard-coating technology without any adhesives in the optical path.

Their exceptional optical performance is made possible by combining modern ion-beam sputtering with Semrock's proprietary optical-coating technology.