Nikon Launches Unique Range of Plan Apochromat Nano Crystal Coat Objectives

Nikon has launched the new CFI Plan Apochromat lambda series of objectives, featuring its pioneering ultra-low refractive index Nano Crystal Coat technology. This technology provides unrivalled chromatic aberration and remarkably high transmission values throughout a broad range of wavelengths.

Offering bright, sharp, high contrast images, the newly developed CFI Plan Apochromat lambda series objectives are capable of visualising the minute structure and dynamics in living cells or organisms, supporting advanced bioscience applications.

Originating from its semi-conductor manufacturing technology, and used in the manufacture of professional SLR lenses, Nikon's Nano Crystal Coat is an anti-reflective coating that assimilates ultra-fine crystallised particles, the size of a nanometre. Arranging the particles in a spongy coarse structure, with uniform spaces between them, enables lower refractive indices. These crystallised particles eliminate reflections inside the lens throughout the spectrum of visible light waves (380 - 780nm) far exceeding the limits of conventional anti-reflective coating systems. The Nano Crystal Coat eliminates the ghost effects caused by red light and effectively reduces the flare caused by light entering the lens diagonally.

These high resolution lenses are ideal for multi-colour fluorescence live-cell imaging, particularly for fluorescent dyes with longer wavelengths that are less phototoxic to living specimens. By incorporating the Nano Crystal Coat, the transmission rate of a lens is dramatically increased throughout the entire visible range from UV to near IR of 750 nm and over, thus minimising the excitation light to reduce the damage to live cells from the effects of photobleaching and enabling long term imaging. Moreover, with the world’s highest level of chromatic aberration correction, over a wide wavelength range from 435 - 850 nm, superb quality images are captured during multiwavelength imaging. Image flatness is also ensured across the entire field of view for all objectives from low to high magnifications.

Unprecedented high resolution with a high numerical aperture (NA) can be achieved at any magnification. The CFI Plan Apochromat lambda 100x oil objective, for example, has an incredibly high NA of 1.45.

Conventional objectives that have a bulky lens top make it difficult to search for and confirm the observation point; there is also a risk that part of the lens could touch the specimen. The CFI Plan Apochromat lambda series objectives now offer a more acute top lens design, providing added clearance making them less likely to interfere with the research and sample.