Photon Lines

Photon Lines Ltd is the UK and Ireland office of a European distribution company, with its headquarters in Paris, and several other offices across France and Spain. Serving a wide range markets, industries and academic disciplines, our products include optical components such as microspectrometers, which are being supplied in high volume to instrument manufacturers working in sectors such as food and beverages, medical point of care, and the petrochemicals industries, Figure 1 shows the principle of operation. In addition to components, complete optical subsystems are offered, for example adaptive optics feedback systems to further enhance single molecule light microscopes in order to achieve image resolutions which have previously been impossible., see Figure 2.

We list many world leading organisations, including The Francis Crick Institute, London, and most leading scientific university groups amongst our regular customers, and we are proud to contribute to their research. Photon Lines strives to deliver a large range of complementary photonics products covering the physical and life science markets. We employ qualified specialists in their fields, and select innovative, high quality partners whose products fulfil our customers’ needs. These include AA Optoelectronic, Insion, Omicron Laserage, PCO, Confocal.NL, PhaseView, Imagine Optic and Argolight, and products include scientific cameras, lasers, microspectrometers, and microscope attachments, including confocal, lightsheet and super resolution systems.

Photon Lines has recently added several new products to its portfolio, including the Re-scan Confocal Microscope (RCM) from Confocal.NL, a spin-out from the University of Amsterdam. The RCM uses a super-resolution technique based on standard confocal microscopy which has been extended with an optical (re-scanning) unit that projects the image directly on to an sCMOS camera, see figure 3, showing the Confocal RCM with the pco.edge 4.2 sCMOS camera. This new microscope has improved lateral resolution (170 nm at 488 nm light) and strongly improved sensitivity, whilst retaining the sectioning capability of a standard confocal microscope. The technique is useful for biological applications, where the combination of high-resolution and high-sensitivity is required, and a clear explanation of the principle is shown in this video.  

Photon Lines is also pleased to work exclusively in the UK and Ireland with Omicron Laserage, whose laser and LED light source solutions are proving to be the solution of choice for a great many of our customers in the fluorescence imaging community,. Their LightHUB series (see Figure 4) is available in a range of chassis sizes, with up to 6 different wavelengths collinearly aligned into a broadband single mode optical fibre.

One of the most important aspects of any scientific analysis technique, including microscopy, is the need for confidence in the measurement results obtained. Argolight’s innovative technique uses slides which have a 3 year warranty, and software called Daybook to record and document the results, allowing users to monitor their system’s calibration, quantify the bias, and most importantly correct it. See Figure 5 to see the ARGO slide’s use in a typical configuration. Argolight’s solution was endorsed recently, when a NASA contractor used a custom slide on board the International Space Station to ensure the continuous alignment of their microscopes under low gravity conditions, Argolight CEO explains here.

To review all of Photon Lines’s product offering visit www.photonlines.com