Scientific Laboratory Instruments, Optics, and Photonics

Water, ice, dry ice and liquid nitrogen are the sources of cooling in the laboratory for decades. The introduction of lab water chiller has replaced these conventional cooling sources. It has provided the easy and convenient way for cooling liquids and reagents. There are different types of chillers like rackmount, benchtop, portable, and Lab Mini Chiller . All the chillers have the same working principle but differ from each other on the basis of situation like water source, space and the environment. Working of lab water chiller: The working of lab water chiller is to remove heat from the object thus lowering its temperature. Generally, the chiller uses water as the coolant that is used to transfer the heat from one object to another. The basic principle of the chiller involves vapor-compression or absorption-refrigeration cycle. The working cycle of the chiller is described in the following steps : Refrigeration: The process of chilling starts with the proce...

The collimator is a device that changes the diverging light or other radiations from a point source into a parallel beam. This specific feature of the device makes it an important part in spectroscopy and geometric and physical optics. An optical collimator consists of a tube with a convex lens at one end and an adjustable aperture at the other. The collimating lens of Thorlabs inside the collimator produces rays into the parallel beam so that the image can be viewed without parallax. Uses of Collimating Lens The collimating lens of Thorlabs or other labs is curved optical lenses that are used by the user to control the field of view, collection efficiency and spatial resolution of their setups. It is also used to configure illumination and collection angles for sampling. Use of Collimating Lenses in Radiology The collimator lens is also used in radiology where a collimator is an arrangement of absorbers for limiting beam of X-rays, gamma rays, or nuclear par...

Different types of parabolic, spherical, and flat mirrors are produced having different types of mirror substrates . These products have a variety of metallic and dielectric coatings that make them suitable for various applications. The various types of mirror coatings include Protected Aluminum, Enhanced Aluminum, UV Enhanced Aluminum, Bare Gold, and Protected Gold etc that are used for visible applications. UV and DUV enhanced aluminum is used for UV and visible applications while Bare and Protected Gold offer high reflectance for near Infrared and Infrared Wavelength. First Surface and Second Surface Mirrors All the mirrors you use are first surface mirrors. This mirror has a high reflectance coating deposited on the front surface of a variety of different types of glass, metal or semiconductor substrates. The other surface of the mirror may be clear or ground and the mirror is oriented so that the coating faces the source. They are widely used in precision optics ap...

Lab water chiller s are the large energy users in many laboratories. It is necessary for the comprehensive maintenance of this equipment to ensure their reliability and efficient operation. Generally, there are five essential areas that should be considered to maintain the proper working of a water chiller. Maintain a Daily Operating Log The performance of the chiller should be analyzed daily and must be documented in a detailed log. It helps in comparison of its efficiency and detection of problems, if any. This also helps the operator to maintain a history of the operating condition and in detecting any upcoming potential problems. Keep the Tubes Clean Large chillers contain several miles of tubing in their heat exchangers. The efficiency and performance of lab water chiller mainly depend on its ability to transfer heat that begins with clean evaporator and condenser tubes. But with time mud, algae, sludge accumulates on the water side of the heat transfer sur...

The laser is amazing light beams that are powerful enough to zoom miles into the sky or cut the lumps of metal. Nowadays the lasers are found in a dazzling range of products and technologies, including CD and DVD players, metal-cutting machines, measuring systems, laser printers, barcode scanners, in the eye and cosmetic surgery. Even our clothes are cut with lasers; we send and receive emails over the internet with the signals that lasers fire down fiber-optic cables. The wide application of laser has results in the manufacture of laser crystal product that are used in optics study. How is laser created? The laser beam is created when the electrons in atoms in special glasses, crystals, or gases absorb energy from an electrical current or another laser and jump to higher energy orbit on excitation. When the excited electrons return back to their ground state they emit energy in the form of photons (particles of light). Unlike normal light, the photons of laser light hav...

Water baths and chiller plays a very important role in the laboratory of pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, research institutes etc. But most often it is placed at one corner of the lab and is not taken care of. Since lab water chiller and bath plays an important role in various laboratory tasks therefore it is essential to maintain its proper functioning. Whenever a task involving heating and cooling of chemicals is to be done in the lab, the role of water bath and chiller comes into play. A proper maintenance of water bath and chiller is very important as a small error in the unit can result in loss of thousands of dollars. How often should you check the functioning of the equipment? A cleaning and maintaining of water chiller and bath employs little efforts and energy. Cleaning of air, fluid or condenser of the water bath is found to be enough to maintain its proper functioning. •             Fitters and water level m...

What is Calibration? Calibration is a process intimately associated with analytical balances. It determines the relationship between the displayed value and true mass by comparing their value with the known mass. It helps in determining the accuracy of an analytical balance or precision scale. Calibration is essential as it validates the precision of the weighing measurements. It also increases the longevity of the weighing scale and helps in producing valid data during rigorous testing. While shopping for calibration weight scale in the United States you come across the internal calibration and external calibration scale option. It is quite challenging to choose between two options. To make a smart decision you must have a complete knowledge of each type, the difference between them and their pros and cons. Read the following information and choose the calibration weight option in the United States smartly External Calibration External calibration is the...

A mirror substrate is the basic component of laser optics.   There are a few factors that determine the price and quality of mirror substrate like its material, a shape of substrate, size, tolerance and polishing quality. The good quality mirror substrate has following features: •          It should have flat and smooth surface. The flatness of mirror substrate is defined by the number of a wavelength of light that the surface can deviate from being the perfect plane. The number of the scratches and digs on substrate surface after polishing defines the smoothness of substrate. The best quality mirror substrate is the one that has a scratch specification of 20/10. •          It should be made of a material that is free of absorption for all wavelength of high transmission.     •          It should have high thermal conductivity. G...

If you are biotechnologist, pharmacist or working in any other industry that requires working on scale, then before using it makes sure that it is calibrated to ensure correct measurement of your product. Calibration is the process of testing the scale and to ensure the level of accuracy as per your requirement.   If you are working in a laboratory, then measurement plays an important role in the outcome of your result. A wrong calibration could significantly affect your process. On the other hand, if you carry out a business that involves processing and manufacturing then a wrong measurement could change your product quality, scrapped batches, or even a product recall. Therefore, it is better to choose the best quality weighing balance for C alibration weight in the United States . Different Test to Perform While Calibrating Loads in Weighing Instruments You can check the calibration accuracy of weighing instrument by following the subsequent steps: •  ...