Handle coated pieces by the edges only. Clean gently only if necessary. Loose particles should be removed with a bulb puffer or filtered, pressurized air cleaner. If necessary, gently wipe surface using anhydrous alcohol and lint-free lab towels. Use new surface of towel with each wipe.

AVOID TOUCHING OR WIPING A/R COATED OR METAL MIRROR SURFACES

AVOID HANDLING EXPOSED COATINGS WITH BARE FINGERS

Proper orientation of the filter is necessary in order to minimize autofluorescence and maximize performance. There is a caret (arrow) located on the edge of each filter in order to aid orientation.

Excitation (x) filters should be positioned with the arrow pointing toward the specimen, toward the inside of the cube, and away from the light source.

Emission (m) filters should be placed with the arrow pointing toward the specimen, toward the inside of the cube, and away from the detector/eye.

Dichroic mirrors should be mounted with the coated surface toward the light source, excitation filters, and the specimen. The dichroics either have an arrow on the side pointing to the coated side, or they are beveled on the coated side. The beveled side is the smaller surface.

Excitation filter (D480/30x) -- For this example, the center wavelength is at 480nm; full bandwidth is 30 [ = +/- 15]. In some cases for which the band width is not specified the letter "x" is used to define the filter as an excitation filter. This is generally used for narrow band UV excitation filters, i.e. d340x.

Dichroic beamsplitter (505DCLP) -- The cut-on wavelength is approximately 505nm for this dichroic longpass filter.

Emission filter (D535/40m) -- The center wavelength here is at 535nm; full bandwidth is 40nm [ = +/- 20].

LP -- indicates a longpass filter which transmits wavelengths longer than the cut-on and blocks shorter wavelengths

SP -- indicates a shortpass filter which transmits wavelengths shorter than the cut-on, and blocks longer wavelengths

DCLP -- dichroic longpass

DCXR -- dichroic long pass, extended reflection

DCXRU -- dichroic longpass, extended reflection including the UV

PC -- polychroic beamsplitter. This is a beamsplitter that reflects and transmits more than two bands of light.

GG -- Green Glass. Longpass absorption glass from Schott Glassworks with cut-on wavelengths in the violet and blue-green regions.

OG -- Orange Glass. Longpass absorption glass from Schott Glassworks with cut-on wavelengths in the green, yellow and orange regions.

RG -- Red Glass. Longpass absorption glass from Schott Glassworks with cut-on wavelengths in the red and far red regions.

x -- excitation filter

bs -- beamsplitter

m -- emission filter

The list on the left provides the item number of the filter set along with its component parts and their spectral characteristics. The graph on the right shows the spectral trace of this filter set with each of the components shown in a different color.