What Is Different About Prizmatix LEDs? – Our Answer to 5 Not-so-Obvious Questions

I recently wrote a blog post called, “Five Not Very Obvious Questions to Ask when Choosing an LED Source for your Fluorescence Microscope.”

Well, as I warned – there will be a follow up post with the answers regarding Prizmatix LEDs.

1) How do I choose the LED that will get the most light to the microscope objective?

As I wrote in the previous article there are four factors that determine the amount of light that will reach the back pupil of your microscope objective.

1. The size of the LED emitting area
2. The divergence angle
3. The beam diameter
4. And of course - The power of the LED

The power of the LED is your starting point. The other three factors determine how much of that light make it to the objective. We balance the need for power, collimation and beam size to get the best results. That's why you will find options on Goldstone Scientific such as “optimized for microscope” or “optimized for total power.”

Prizmatix LEDs that are optimized for power have the highest intensity, measured in mW/mm^2 on the emitting surface of the LED with the lowest divergence possible. For most microscopes, we have found that our UHP line, with 2mm x 2mm LEDs, deliver the most light at the microscope objective.

Our LEDs have single emitters for homogeneous flat field illumination. The single emitter LEDs are ideal since they have lower divergence than LED arrays. An added benefit is that they work very well when fiber coupled. The exception to this is our 595nm LED which is based on an LED array.

2) Can the LED be used in a Faraday cage? In other words, “Is the LED Electrophysiology Friendly”?

All of the UHP-T models are electrophysiology friendly.

The cables of UHP-Mic-LED models need to be shielded or the LED left out of the cage by using a fiber or light guide in order to prevent electronic noise from interfering.

3) Can the LED be used for very fast imaging?

Prizmatix LEDs with our special low noise drivers have successfully been used for imaging at up to 500,000 frames per second. That’s really fast. Noise can be as little as 0.1%.

Make sure to speak to our consultant about getting LOW NOISE LEDs if your application needs a very quiet optical output. These are not a standard product yet, but will be soon.

4)  Can the LED be used with a fiber, light guide or direct mount?

Here is where Prizmatix LEDs shine. The modular nature of Prizmatix LED makes them truly multi-functional and even multi-wavelength. Take a look at this YouTube video to see how simple it is to switch from fiber to microscope to light guide and add wavelengths.

5) Can I test the LED and return it if it does not work?

We often ship demo units for testing or offer an evaluation period. Just contact me to discuss your application.