QE65000-FL Scientific-grade Spectrometer
for Fluorescence Measurements
The QE65000-FL Scientific-grade Spectrometer is a preconfigured combination of detector, optical bench and electronics technologies that provides users with a remarkably sensitive system for demanding low-light level applications such as fluorescence. The QE65000-FL can achieve up to 90% quantum efficiency with high signal-to-noise and rapid signal processing speed.
- Quantum Efficiency to 90%
- Increased System Sensitivity
- Excellent UV Response
- Demanding Low Light-level Applications
- Onboard Programming
- Plug-and-Play USB Operation
- Configuration
- Specifications
New! Optical Bench Enhancements
The great performance of our QE65000-FL Spectrometer has been enhanced to provide even more value: lower stray light, improved efficiency in the UV and Shortwave NIR, and better unit-to-unit reproducibility.
We are also offering a proprietary low BRDF bench coating to improve stray light performance and provide better reproducibility in unit-to-unit performance.
The QE65000 is the most sensitive spectrometer we have ever developed. The Hamamatsu FFT-CCD detector used in the QE65000-FL provides 90% quantum efficiency (defined as how efficiently a photon is converted to a photo-electron). Most of our other detectors are linear CCDs but with this “2D” area detector, we can bin (or sum) a vertical row of pixels, which offers significant improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio (>1000:1) and signal processing speed of the detector compared with a linear CCD, where signals are digitally added by an external circuit.
In our spectrometers with linear CCDs, the slit’s width, not its height, regulates the amount of light entering the bench because linear CCDs cannot efficiently collect the light from the entire height of the slit. But in the QE65000, the 2D area detector can better take advantage of the height of the slit and the additional light, greatly improving system sensitivity.
Because the detector in the QE65000-FL is back-thinned (or back-illuminated), it has great native response in the UV and does not require the additional coatings that we typically apply to other detectors for UV applications.
The QE65000-FL Spectrometer is specifically configured for low-light level applications such as fluorescence. The TE-cooled (down to -15 °C) detector features low noise and low dark signal, which enables low-light-level detection and long integration times (analogous to the shutter speed of a camera) from 8 milliseconds to 15 minutes, with virtually no spectral distortion.
The QE65000-FL also has an onboard programmable micro-controller for controlling the spectrometer and accessories. You have access to 10 user-programmable digital inputs/outputs and a pulse generator for triggering other devices. You can use the I/Os to flash a lamp, stop/start a process, and send a message/alarm during the spectrometer’s integration period. The spectrometer’s operating parameters can be controlled through software. In fact, wavelength calibration coefficients unique to each spectrometer are programmed into a memory chip right on the spectrometer.
The QE65000-FL interfaces to a computer via USB 2.0 or RS-232 serial port. Data unique to each spectrometer are programmed into a memory chip on the QE65000; our SpectraSuite Spectroscopy Operating Software reads these values for easy setup and hot swapping among computers, whether they run on Linux, Mac or Windows operating systems.
The QE65000-FL is preconfigured with the following, along with SpectraSuite spectrometer operating software and our Annual Service Package (ASP) to extend the warranty from 1 year to 2 years:
| Equipment |
Details |
| Spectrometer |
QE65000 |
| Grating |
HC1-QE |
| Slit |
SLIT-200 |
|
Physical |
| Dimensions: |
182 mm x 110 mm x 47 mm |
| Weight: |
1.18 kg (without power supply) |
| Detector |
|
Detector: |
Hamamatsu S7031-1006 |
| Detector range: |
200-1100 nm |
|
Pixels: |
1024 x 58 (1044 x 64 total pixels) |
|
Pixel size: |
24.576 μm2 |
|
Pixel well depth: |
1000 Ke- |
| Sensitivity: |
~0.065 counts / e- |
| Quantum efficiency: |
90% peak; 65% at 250 nm |
| Optical Bench |
| Design: |
f/4, Symmetrical crossed Czerny-Turner |
| Focal length: |
101.6 mm input and output |
| Entrance aperture: |
200 µm wide slit |
| Grating: |
HC1-QE |
| OFLV filter: |
OFLV-QE-350 (350-1100 nm) |
| Collimating and focusing mirrors: |
Standard only |
| UV enhanced window: |
No |
| Fiber optic connector: |
SMA 905 to 0.22 numerical aperture single-strand optical fiber |
| Spectroscopic |
| Wavelength range: |
350-1100 nm (grating dependent) |
| Optical resolution: |
~6 nm FWHM |
| Signal-to-noise ratio: |
1000:1 (at full signal) |
| A/D resolution: |
16 bit |
| Dark noise: |
3 RMS counts |
| Dynamic range: |
7.5 x 109 (system), 25000:1 for a single acquisition |
| Integration time: |
8 ms to 15 minutes |
| Stray light: |
<0.08% at 600 nm; 0.4% at 435 nm |
| Corrected linearity: |
>99.8% |
| Electronics |
| Power consumption: |
500 mA @ 5 VDC (no TE cooling); 3.5 A @ 5 VDC (with TE cooling) |
| Data transfer speed: |
Full scans to memory every 7 ms with USB 2.0 port, 18 ms with USB1.1 port, 300 ms with serial port |
| Inputs/Outputs: |
10 onboard digital user-programmable GPIOs (general purpose inputs/outputs) |
| Analog channels: |
No |
| Auto nulling: |
Yes |
| Breakout box compatibility: |
Yes, HR4-BREAKOUT |
| Trigger modes: |
4 modes |
| Strobe functions: |
No |
| Gated delay feature: |
Yes |
| Connector: |
30-pin connector |
| Power-up time: |
<5 seconds |
|
Dark current: |
4000 e-/pixel/sec @ 25 ºC; 200 e-/pixel/sec @ 0 ºC |
| Computer |
| Operating systems: |
Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, Mac OS X and Linux with USB port; Any 32-bit Windows OS with serial port |
| Computer interfaces: |
USB 2.0 @ 480 Mbps; RS-232 (2-wire) @ 115.2 K baud |
| Peripheral interfaces: |
SPI (3-wire); I2C inter-integrated circuit |
| Temperature and Thermoelectric (TE) Cooling |
| Temperature limits: |
0 ºC to 50.0 ºC; no condensation |
| Set point: |
Software controlled; lowest set point is 40 ºC below ambient |
| Stability |
+/-0.1 ºC of set temperature in <2 minutes | |
