LIMA™ is a darkfield hyperspectral imaging microscope based on a tunable supercontinuum source from 410 nm to 1620 nm . It uses Photon etc.’s filtering technology to illuminate the entire field of view of a research-grade microscope with a continuously tunable monochromatic, high power density laser light. Since only a narrow bandwidth of light is illuminating the sample per hyperspectral image, phototoxicity or light induced sample heating is greatly diminished and exposure can always be chosen to guarantee the best signal to noise ratio that enables imaging of nanoparticles of several nm in size.
The system also provides a high spectral resolution in the VIS, NIR, and SWIR ranges without swapping any optical element on the hyperspectral imaging microscope. Combined to a near-diffraction-limited spatial resolution, this instrument will capture crisp hyperspectral darkfield or brightfield images. Photon etc. proprietary software controls the modules of the instruments, oversees data acquisition, and handles the display and analysis processes. Utilizing the hyperspectral data, user-friendly analysis tools such as PCA or SAM produce well-defined mappings of identified elements.
Ideal for hyperspectral darkfield microscopy, photoluminescence excitation (PLE), or standard brightfield reflectance and transmittance imaging, it can map the full spectral response of a sample much faster than point-by-point or line-scan-based systems.
Product Specifications
| VIS | SWIR | eSWIR | VIS-SWIR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excitation spectral range | 400 - 1000 nm | 900 - 1620 nm | 1000 - 2500 nm | 400 - 1620 nm |
| Excitation spectral resolution (FWHM) | 1.5 - 2.5 nm | 3.0 - 5.0 nm | < 5.0 nm | 1.5 - 5.0 nm |
| Excitation wavelength | Continuously tunable | Continuously tunable | Continuously tunable | Continuously tunable |
| Out-of-band rejection | < -60 dB @ ± 40 nm | < -60 dB @ ± 80 nm | < -60 dB @ ± 80 nm | < -60 dB @ ± 40 nm (VIS) or 80 nm (SWIR) |
| TLS output power | 2 - 4 mW | 3 - 9 mW | 0.5 - 8.0 mW | 2 - 9 mW |
| Illumination | High efficiency homogeneous illumination; Dia or Epi illumination; Brightfield; Darkfield (oil and dry) | High efficiency homogeneous illumination; Dia or Epi illumination; Brightfield; Darkfield (oil and dry) | High efficiency homogeneous illumination; Dia or Epi illumination; Brightfield; Darkfield (oil and dry) | High efficiency homogeneous illumination; Dia or Epi illumination; Brightfield; Darkfield (oil and dry) |
| Spatial resolution | sub-micron - Limited by the microscope objective NA | sub-micron - Limited by the microscope objective NA | sub-micron - Limited by the microscope objective NA | sub-micron - Limited by the microscope objective NA |
| Camera | sCMOS (optionally CCD, EMCCD) | ZephIR™ 1.7 or Alizé™ 1.7 (InGaAs) | ZephIR™ 2.5 (HgCdTe) | sCMOS and ZephIR™ 1.7 or Alizé™ 1.7 |
| Microscope | Upright or inverted, scientific grade | Upright or inverted, scientific grade | Upright or inverted, scientific grade | Upright or inverted, scientific grade |
| White light illumination | Diascopic, episcopic, Hg, halogen | Diascopic, episcopic, Hg, halogen | Diascopic, episcopic, Hg, halogen | Diascopic, episcopic, Hg, halogen |