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Danielle,

We purchased a Zeiss 510 NLO about one year ago. The laser we got is
the Coherent Chameleon, rated from 720 nm to 930 nm.

After some initial problems that were quickly fixed by the Coherent
engineers, the laser has been working beautifully. Laser control is
done entirely through the Zeiss software. At start-up, the laser takes
a minute or two to warm-up and lock to the set wavelength. After that,
it typically takes in the order of about 30 seconds or less to tune to
a new wavelength.  It has been recommended to us to change wavelengths
by small increments (up to 30-40 nm at a time) to reduce the risk of
losing mode-locking, but we have occasionally tried longer "jumps"
without problems.  Once it is mode-locked, the laser is stable and does
not (generally) lose mode-locking.  The Chameleon has a closed-loop
chiller to maintain cavity temperature, and a filtered air recirculator
to deplete moisture. Coherent claim this allows tuning at the long
wavelength end of the spectrum (Water absorbs in that range). We rarely
work at the long wavelength end of the spectrum, but I did not notice
any problems.

Zeiss provides a macro that can automatically "scan" through the range
of wavelengths (for excitation fingerprinting). We have never bothered
using it, as it is pretty straightforward to do the same manually, but
it can be done.  The Chameleon is very easy to use: turn the key on the
power supply from "Standby" to "ON", activate the laser on the LSM
software, and set the wavelength. From then on, it is used just as
another laser line.

The peak power of our Chameleon is about 1.3-1.4 Watts at 800 nm, and
there is still sufficient power at the ends of the tuning curve for
most needs (about 0.5-0.7 Watts).

In summary, we found the Chameleon to be robust, low-maintenance,  and
easy to use. The new Chameleon XR should be even better, as it has an
extended tuning range from 705 nm to 980 nm (and somewhat higher power
throughout). This should provide even better excitation of many
fluorescent molecules (e.g. NADH at 705 nm, and YFP at >900 nm)


Hope this helps...

Julio.

On Mar 29, 2005, at 9:02 AM, Danielle Crippen wrote:

> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
>
> Dear All,
>
> We will soon be purchasing a Zeiss 510 NLO and are having difficulty
> deciding and distinguishing between the Spectrum Physics and Coherent
> lasers.
>
> Considering that we are a multi-user Core facility, we are primarily
> concerned with 1.) ease of use, 2.) stability and 3.) robustness.
> Does anyone have experience with either or both of these laser
> vendors??
>
> Any and all experience and expertise is VERY welcome!!
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> Danielle Crippen
>
>
--
Julio Vazquez
Scientific Imaging Shared Resource
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
1100 Fairview Ave. N.,  DE-512
Seattle, WA 98109-1024

Tel: Office: 206-667-1215