Always the Right Fluorescence Illumination, Whatever the Requirement

Olympus has introduced a comprehensive range of advanced arc burner light sources for all levels of fluorescent work. All systems feature unique power control ensuring stability and longer bulb lives. The top of the range MT20 provides peerless illumination functionality for high speed multi-colour, live cell research.

Olympus has introduced a number of exciting arc-burner based products to provide every laboratory with the optimum level of fluorescent illumination flexibility:

X-Cite 120 XL
The three versions in the X-Cite^® 120 XL range provide exceptional ease-of-use since they are alignment-free and offer a 2000 hour guarantee for each burner. This is possible through the use of a metal-halide burner and the Intelli-Lamp™ system. The metal-halide burner ensures that much of the tungsten eroded from the electrodes during ‘burning’ that is normally deposited on the inner bulb surface, is recycled back to the electrodes. The Intelli-Lamp™ system includes features such as electronic control gear (ECG), which ensure that as the gap between the electrodes grows the correct voltage is used to generate a consistent arc, greatly extends the life of the burner. As a result the X-Cite 120 XL models show a less reduction in light intensity over lifetime than similar metal-halide illumination systems.

The entry level model provides a consistent intensity level and is controlled directly from the unit. The Iris model adds to this with five intensity levels (0%, 12%, 25%, 50% and 100%), providing finer control for sensitive and bright samples. The X-Cite^® 120 XL PC combines all these features with PC-based control via an RS-232 interface.

MT10_D
The Olympus MT10_D features all the components necessary for advanced multi-colour fluorescence illumination. It can use either a 150 watt Xenon or a unique, proprietary 150 watt Mercury-Xenon burner depending on the wavelength requirements of the research work. The MT10_D includes the burner compartment, a fast internal 8 position filter wheel, 7 level light attenuator and high speed shutter. This versatile all-in-one system can be controlled conveniently via the manual controls or smoothly integrated with Olympus imaging software programmes. The advanced electronics ensure that both burner sources provide bright stabilised light over long periods of time ensuring the utmost data reliability and consistency.

MT10 & MT20
The Olympus MT10 and MT20 use the same burner technology as the MT10_D but take the concept further with increased functionality and faster bespoke CPU containing PC control boards providing ‘computer within computer’ functionality. The MT10 is aimed at recording fast events where there is a distinct need for high speed control via the ‘System Coordinator’ hardware module. This enables the full utilisation of the components such as the fast internal 8 position filter wheel, 7 level light attenuator and high speed shutter in a sequential fashion.

The MT20 is designed for high-speed live cell imaging and uses a more advanced ‘Real-time controller’ PC board which provides parallel control of all the modules. This is combined with a faster filter wheel than the MT10, which switches between the 8 neighbouring filters in just 58 ms. The expanded 14 place attenuator enables intensities between 1 – 100%. The shutter is also much quicker with on/off times of less than 1ms.

Polychrome V Monochromator
Olympus also offers the Polychrome V monochromator-based system which can provide wavelength changes of up to 400 nm/ms and is fully controllable via the cell* family of software packages. The Polychrome V uses a 150W Xenon burner with 3000h lifetime and can provide UV to visible red wavelengths with an optional 10 level attenuator.