The new Chameleon Ultra laser from Coherent extends the capabilities of multiphoton excitation (MPE) microscopy by delivering a combination of wavelength tuning range, fast scanning and high peak power. Specifically, this new ultrafast laser tunes from 690nm to 1040nm, enabling calcium uncaging, autofluorescence techniques, and the use of green, blue and cyan fluorescent proteins, as well as deeper imaging within samples. A fast scanning speed of 25nm/sec further supports calcium uncaging and facilitates multicolour imaging. The Chameleon Ultra also offers high peak power (>2W at 800nm) throughout its tuning range for a stronger MPE signal.
Along with these advanced capabilities the Chameleon Ultra retains the same high quality output and ease-of-use characteristics that have made its predecessors the first choice of MPE researchers worldwide. In particular, the Chameleon Ultra output has an M2 <1.1 and a round beam (ellipticity between 0.9 and 1.1) for optimum coupling with the microscope optical system. Chameleon Ultra also requires no manual adjustments, and is operated via a simple push-button, menu-driven interface on the power supply’s front panel. Furthermore, the laser can be controlled by a host computer using the supplied graphical user interface or, alternatively, the user can develop custom firmware based on the RS-232 command set or LabVIEW VI.