Leica Microsystems, NKT Photonics enter supercontinuum lasers agreement

Nov. 30, 2015

Leica Microsystems and NKT Photonics have signed a supply contract to deliver significant numbers of NKT's supercontinuum lasers.

The SuperK EXTREME supercontinuum laser powers the Leica TCS SP8 X confocal microscope used for high-resolution bioimaging.

Microscopy systems maker Leica Microsystems (Wetzlar, Germany) has signed a 14-month supply contract with supercontinuum laser developer and maker NKT Photonics (Birkerød, Denmark) to deliver significant numbers of its SuperK EXTREME supercontinuum lasers. The laser powers the Leica TCS SP8 X confocal microscope used for high-resolution bioimaging.

In the confocal microscope, the white-light laser enables excitation at all wavelengths in the visible range, giving access to a large range of fluorophores. Its pulsed nature makes it possible to study fast lifetime phenomena with fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). For higher resolution and flexibility, the laser can couple to a stimulated emission depletion (STED) module or a light-sheet option for super-resolution images beyond the diffraction limit.

The two companies, according to NKT Photonics CTO Christian Poulsen, have collaborated since 2005.

For more information, please visit www.nktphotonics.com and www.leica-microsystems.com.