21 Dec 2011 PicoQuant GmbH has released a polarization extension for its upgrade kit for confocal laser scanning microscopes (LSM). Since several years, time-resolved fluorescence measurements can be performed with commercially available LSM that have been upgraded with a suited upgrade kit. With the new extension, upgraded microscopes can now also perform polarization measurements.
The polarization extension for the LSM upgrade kit permits to access single molecule dynamics such as fluorescence anisotropy or polarization-resolved fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Applications include the study of e.g. membrane dynamics, molecular rotation and orientation as well as molecule aggregation or cluster formation. Calculation of the static anisotropy can be done using the newest release of PicoQuant's fluorescence lifetime imaging and correlation software “SymPhoTime”.
The polarization extension is directly mounted to the scan head of the confocal microscope. It splits the fluorescence according to its polarization and guides the light to two single photon sensitive detectors via two optical fibers. The insertion of the polarization sensitive beam splitter is reversible and switching between polarization or spectral light separation is easily possible.
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