Scientific Laboratory Instruments, Optics, and Photonics

Lenses come with many aberrations like chromatic aberration and spherical aberration. To reduce aberrations and to increase the performance of your system it is important to choose a lens with a right design and correct multi-element systems. Thorlabs provides a high-quality optical material with the substrate and anti-reflection coating of a different wavelength. Spherical Singlets It is a preferable choice for many applications where aberration is not a great concern. The various singlet design of collimating lens Thorlabs are Plano-Convex, Bi-Convex, Plano-Concave, and Bi-Concave. These lenses are used for the wide application. Plano-Convex Lenses These lenses are used where the object or image distance is more than five times the other. Plano-convex lens of the Thorlabs performs best for collimating a point source or for focusing collimated light. These lenses are subjected to some aberration that reduces a multi-element system. Bi-Convex Lenses It...

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...

Laboratories that are concerned with quantitative analysis require stringent calibration of scales. Nowadays, modern scales are used, whose precision is largely dependent on the accuracy of calibration weight in the United States. The accuracy of the scale depends on the grades of stainless steel and other contributing factors. There are different classes of calibrated weight which is defined by the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) These calibration weight is available with certificates in the United States . Class E1: These weights are the highest accuracy class, and are intended to use for traceability between national mass standards and OIML class E2 weight and lower. The maximal permissible error from the nominal value at 1 kg is ±0.5 mg. This class of calibration weight is used as primary laboratory reference standard in the United States . Class E2: Weights that are intended for use in the verification or calibration of class F1 weights an...

Ball lenses are an optical component used for improving coupling between fibers, emitters, and detectors and for coupling and collimating in the range of 0.5 to 5mm in diameter. They are also used in endoscopy, barcode scanning, and sensor applications. Ball lens of Thorlabs are prepared using a single substrate of glass and is used for collimating light. The collimation of light depends on the geometry of input sources. The most important factor that is used to determine the performance of the ball lens is the numerical aperture. This is because of the spherical aberration of the ball lens in proportion to the cube of numerical aperture. This limits the use of ball lens for the use with fibers having a numerical aperture of 0.2 or less. Following parameters are used to defines the application of ball lens: •          The diameter of the input source •          The diameter of the b...

A calibration is a quantitative comparison. To check the reading of the balance a known weight is kept on the pan. The difference in the measured value and the true value is defined as an error. After calibration of weight in the United States , a certificate is created that reports the balance or scales readings and their comparison with the reference value. Balance calibration and the need to calibrate A balanced and scale calibration is important to achieve accurate weighing results. Weighing with the non-calibrated scale is useless as it hinders the accuracy of balances and scales with time. This may be due to wear and tear that is caused by the regular use and some external factors. On the other hand, balance calibration if inspected regularly enhances the life of the balance or scale and its weighing accuracy. Benefits of balance calibration Calibration weight is done by an authorized provider in the United States offers the following benefits: · ...

Integrating sphere is a versatile optical element that has multiple Lambertian reflections at the inner surface. This reflection results in the homogenous distribution of optical radiation. The radiation source located in two locations; either inside the sphere or in front of the source’s entrance port. Properties of integrating sphere The irradiance of the integrating sphere labsphere is proportional to the total radiant power emitted either by the source inside the sphere or by the one located at the entrance port. The irradiance level does not depend on the geometrical and directional distribution of the primary source if direct illumination of the respective location is prevented. This property makes the instrument useful optical element for the detection of radiant power. The radiance reflected from the inner surface of the sphere and shielded from the direct illumination, is constant in its directional distribution and independent of the specific location wher...

Halogen has been used as the light source for decades and is chosen as the source of illumination for varieties of imaging modalities. But now LEDs is gaining popularity in the marketplace and increasingly becoming a preferred choice for a light source in various optical instruments due to its many advantages. Before comparing the characteristics of both light source, have a look on the how halogen and LED lamps produces light. Halogen Lights Halogen light source is similar to incandescent bulbs. It consists of tungsten filament surrounded by quartz envelope filled with an inert gas that makes it preferable for the use in a microscope for bright field and phase contrast microscope. With the supply of electricity, tungsten begins to glow just as within the incandescent bulb. As tungsten glows it begins to evaporate, giving off tungsten atoms. This lowers the brightness of the lamp with time. The gas present inside the lamp reacts with the tungsten vapors and recoats it...