QuantaMaster Luminescence
QM 3 PH

Buyer's Guide

Each of PTI's diverse fluorometer systems is designed with particular user needs in mind. The QuantaMaster™ Luminescence Spectrometer is a bench-top fluorometer that utilizes a pulsed excitation source. The QuantaMaster™ Luminescence Spectrometer is designed for the user who:

• wants an easy-to-use and reliable bench top fluorometer that has good sensitivity for quick and accurate measurements of fluorescence or phosphorescence signals.
• would like the ability to measure fluorescence and/or phosphorescence lifetimes  greater than 400 nanoseconds.
• would like to separate long-lived species from short-lived species.
• works with lanthanides and metal-ligand (MLC) probes.
• studies phosphors, LEDs and inorganic materials.
• wants to measure LRET.
• wants to measure room temperature phosphorescence (RTP).
• wants a bench-top fluorometer but would like the unique versatility that only PTI's open architecture can provide.

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General Applications

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General Information

The QuantaMaster™ Luminescence Spectrometer is an easy-to-use, open architecture spectrofluorometer with excellent sensitivity. It utilizes a pulsed xenon source for excitation, which allows not only steady state fluorescence and phosphorescence measurements, but also the measurement of lifetimes greater than 400 nanoseconds.

The QuantaMaster™ Luminescence fluorometer is very easy-to-use. Just insert the sample, and the measurement and analysis are all under keyboard control.

The QuantaMaster™ Luminescence Spectrometer provides a signal-to-noise ratio of 3,000:1, which is the highest sensitivity that a fluorometer can currently achieve when using a pulsed conventional source; sensitivity in a fluorometer sets the ultimate detection limit. It determines the ultimate analyte detection limit and sensitivity defines how small a quantity can be detected, how long the measurement will take, and how accurate the measurement will be. The ability to measure minute amounts of a substance can also save money, particularly in situations where expensive reagents or precious biological materials are involved.

The QuantaMaster™ Luminescence Spectrometer is unique as a bench top fluorometer in that it offers a modern open architecture design, which is normally only found in much higher-priced research grade fluorometers. The open architecture design offers great benefits: it can accommodate more options, capable of other fluorescence measurement such as very short lifetimes, it can be coupled to a microscope, and is easy to upgrade.

A pulsed xenon lamp provides broadband excitation illumination. In addition to steady state, pulsed xenon sources allow a fluorometer to make kinetic measurements, such as the measurement of fluorescence or phosphorescence lifetimes. This, however, comes at the expense of sensitivity, where continuous sources are much better. If you desire, you can still keep the better kinetic performance of a pulsed source and at the same time add a continuous source to you system (requires a continuous detector as well) to enhance sensitivity. In this way, you can have the best of all worlds.

Excitation and emission wavelengths are selected by means of auto-calibrated, computer-controlled, scanning QuadraScopic™ monochromators with standard computer-controlled slits. QuadraScopic™ monochromators come with two entrance and exit ports for additional excitation sources and/or detectors. This allows the addition of a continuous source and continuous detector to your system should you want to enhance sensitivity.

Also included as standard in the roomy QuadraCentric™ sample compartment are: a 10 x 10 mm cuvette holder equipped with a variable speed stirrer, high efficiency quartz optics, filter holders, active excitation correction, lid activated emission shutter and one quartz cuvette. In addition, there is plenty of room for numerous options, such as: polarizers, solid or powdered sample holder and other accessories. The system offers a specially gated PMT-based detector, optimized to work with pulsed illumination systems.

Good excitation correction for a pulsed source is mandatory. Pulsed sources exhibit much more instability than continuous sources. For this reason, the QuantaMaster™ Luminescence was designed with the best excitation correction, which utilizes a PMT-based quantum counter instead of a photodiode. Other manufacturers' pulsed systems use photodiodes for excitation correction because it is cheaper. Indeed, PTI's own continuous sources also use photodiodes for excitation correction for the same reason. But whereas a photodiode works very well in a continuous source system with stabilized power supply, it is not adequate for pulsed sources. PMT-based quantum counter excitation correction is mandatory if a pulsed system is going to have any kind of reliable accuracy.

Installation, software, computer, interface and everything that you need in a turnkey system is included in the basic price. Optionally, you may supply your own computer for data acquisition and reduce the price of the system.

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Optical Layout and Physical Dimensions

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