df

femt-O-cut ^®

Nanoprocessing with femtosecond near infrared laser pulses

Ultraprecise cutting and hoel-frilling combined with high-resolution non-invasive 3D imaging:

Targeted transfection for optical gene transfer
Intra-cellular chromosome dissection
Separation of single cells from histological sections
Optical knocking-out of cellular components
Nanoprocessing and optical waveguide writing
ptical data storage

Product description

The system femt-O-cut ® uses compact femtosecond NIR laser for 3-dimentional nanoprocessing in transparent materials. Low energy (sub-nanojoule to nanojoule) pulses at high repetition rate of to 90 MHz are focused by high numerical apperture (NA 1.3) optics for optical breakdown in sub-femtoliter volumes. The beam intensity is regulated by a motorized attenuator. Several TW/cm² can be reached in the focal region to enable ultraprecise ablation with minimum cut size below 70 nm (FWHM) by multiphoton ionization.

The device is based on a conventional microscope which is equipped with a high-speed galvoscanning unit. Full-frame scans, region-of-interest (ROI) scans, line scans as well as single point ablation (spot scan, drilling) can be performed with sublicron accuracy. A motorized stage is used for large area processing. For vertical positioning the focusing optics optics are mounted on a piezo-driven stage with an accuracy of 40 nm.

femt-O-cut® also represents a diagnostic tool for nanoinvasive tomography. This allows for the observation of the samples by high-resolution imaging to select the target area as well as to monitor the result of the ablation procedure.

Applications

Laser induced transient changes in the cellular membrane

Ultrashort pulsed lasers have been demonstrated to be a powerful tool for nanostructuring in semiconductors, metals, dielectrics, polymers, and tissues. Because of the strong linear absorption in most materials, UV-laser based systems provide only surface patterning. In contrast, femt-O-cut ® offers real three-dimentional processing even in the depths of more than 100 mm with submicron cut width. By multiphoton ionisation in the focal region, cut sizes below the diffraction limit can be achieved. The system can be used for direct writing of nanoscale structures in NIR-tranparent materials and opens a wide field of industrial and medical as well as scientific applications.

Nanoscale structuring by femtosecond laser pulses is used for waveguide writing, photomask fabrication and to improve the surface quality of certain components. Further, drilling of microscopic holes into a variety of materials is possible.

The interaction of ultrashort pulsed lasers with biological materials has been found t

o be strongly limited by focal volume minimising the harm to nearby tissue regions. It is therefore possible to disconnect mutant tissue form living cells. The high resolution of femt-O-cut ® enables knocking-out of single organnels without any visible deterious effect.

With its extremely localised working are femt-O-cut ® has the potention to be a powerful toll for DNA manipulation. It can be used for optical deactivation of certain genomic regions in chromosomes. Femtosecond laser pulses have been shown to be applicable fo sectioning of human chromosomes and for highly localised gene and molecule transfer.