Additional information
The Prizmatix Rotary Joint was especially designed for working with high NA fibers
and LED light sources. Unlike Lasers, Prizmatix Ultra High Power LEDs have a high brightness
and large light emitting area. This characteristic is used to couple the LED's light
efficiently into a high numerical aperture (NA ≥ 0.5), large core fiber such as 1000um – 1500um core.
Due to the wide aperture of this fiber, coupling a secondary fiber (NA ≥ 0.5) with smaller core,
such as 500um, does not require precise axial alignment. Placing the small core in front of the
larger core fiber enables efficient light coupling. The primary fiber is connected to the top port
of the fiber optic commutator and the secondary fiber is connected to the lower half.
The Rotary Joint contains special low-friction ball bearings which enables the two fibers to rotate freely upon each other.
Although the core diameter of the fiber optic components are reduced, If the high NA (Numerical Aperture)
is manintained the LED's brightness (usually measured in mW/mm2), is conserved along the fibe roptic path
from the LED to the Rotary Joint, and eventually into the cannula.
The large to small core coupling method allows for more than one secondary fiber to be attached
using a single LED light source and without compromising the brightness. This is very useful
for comprehensive research such as optogenetically manipulating two brain hemispheres or several
locations simultaneously as on a picture above.
Prizmatix Rotary Joint is a one element of Prizmatix's Optogenetics Toolbox, which offers accessories for Optogentic research:
Optogenetics Toolbox
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