iChrome FLE

Flexible 7-line laser combiner with up to 2 output fibers

Fluorescence microscopy requires unlimited flexibility, fast switching, and access to all laser wavelengths from one box.

iChrome FLE Flexible 7-line laser combiner with up to 2 output fibers

Not every experiment fits into a standard setup. The iChrome FLE was built for researchers and OEMs who need maximum flexibility without sacrificing simplicity. As a configurable Laser Combiner and Multi-Line Laser, it gives you the freedom to build the illumination setup your application actually needs.

Configure up to seven laser wavelengths with output powers of up to 100 mW, delivered through up to two polarization-maintaining single-mode fibers. Built around your application, not the other way around. Whether your application requires a carefully selected wavelength combination or the entire range from 405 to 780 nm, the iChrome FLE is configured to match your needs. If full spectral coverage is required, an integrated photonic crystal fiber delivers the complete wavelength range through a single PCF (Photonic Crystal Fiber), turning the system into a highly flexible Multi-Wavelength Laser for demanding imaging setups.

From the very first installation to everyday operation, everything is designed to be effortless. Like all iChrome systems, the FLE features our COOL^AC automatic alignment technology. A single click restores optimal fiber coupling, ensuring reliable performance without time consuming manual alignment. Less time adjusting. More time collecting data.

The iChrome FLE feels at home in virtually every advanced microscopy application. From confocal imaging and fast scanning microscopes to light sheet microscopy, TIRF, spinning disk, structured illumination and super resolution microscopy, it delivers the speed, stability and flexibility modern imaging demands.

Performance goes far beyond output power. Our proprietary FDDL technology generates the important green wavelengths at 532*, 561 and 594 nm using an all diode approach. The result is fast direct modulation of every laser line up to 1 MHz, excellent switching performance and lower power consumption.

Our Complete OFF technology guarantees zero photon emission in the off state, not only for the laser diodes, but also for the FDDL laser lines. This completely eliminates crosstalk between wavelengths and gives you clean excitation with maximum confidence.

The iChrome FLE is a Laser Light Engine for ambitious experiments, letting you design your setup not around your laser, but around your scientific questions.

Your Benefits

Tailored for you

With up to 7 laser lines you achieve almost unlimited flexibility. Tailored to your application needs.

Reliable and long term stable

The iChrome single-mode fiber coupled laser combiner comes with COOL^AC automatic alignment technology. You will never again waste valuable time for manual laser re-alignment.

Increased contrast and reduced cross-talk

With their superior modulation capabilities the iChrome laser systems are ideal for the most demanding modulation schemes used in microscopy.

Unified control interface

The iChrome laser combiners are easy to integrate. They can be controlled by a simple unified, programmable interface, also accepting standard TTL and analog signals.

Applications

Confocal Microscopy

In confocal microscopy (LSCM), tightly focused laser beams scan biological specimens point by point, generating high-contrast optical sections with exceptional spatial resolution. Our stable, low-noise laser sources with direct modulation of all wavelengths ensure optimal excitation efficiency, no optical cross-talking and minimal photobleaching — key for long-term imaging in live-cell studies.

Lightsheet microscopy (SPIM)

Lightsheet microscopy (SPIM) takes optical sectioning to the next level by illuminating samples with a thin sheet of light, reducing phototoxicity while achieving fast 3D imaging. With our multi-line laser platforms, researchers can simultaneously excite multiple fluorophores to capture rich volumetric data of developing embryos, organoids, and living tissues.

Super resolution microscopy (STED, SIM, PALM, STORM)

Pushing beyond the diffraction limit, super-resolution techniques such as STED, SIM, PALM, and STORM demand lasers with exceptional stability, pulse control, high power levels and spectral purity.

Optical scatterometry (OCD)

As semiconductor devices approach atomic-scale dimensions, controlling and verifying every nanometer of pattern geometry becomes a decisive factor for yield and performance. Traditional inspection tools like electron microscopy deliver high resolution, but they are too slow, too localized, and often destructive for in-line process control. Optical Scatterometry, also known as Optical Critical Dimension (OCD) metrology, provides the essential bridge between high-resolution analysis and high-throughput manufacturing. By analyzing how laser light is scattered, diffracted, or reflected from micro- and nanostructures, OCD enables non-contact, rapid, and precise measurement of line width, height, sidewall angle, and layer thickness — with sub-nanometer accuracy.

Interferometry

In semiconductor manufacturing, perfection is measured in nanometers - or often even less. To measure such minute variations with speed and accuracy, the industry relies on laser-based interferometric metrology - a non-contact, non-destructive optical technique capable of resolving surface and layer thickness with sub-nanometer precision.

Options

Custom laser lines

Select up to 7 laser lines chosing from a variety of wavelengths. Select a power level for each laser line. See specifications for details.

FiberDock collimator

FiberDock for collimated free-beam delivery. Flexible solution with 6 independent alignment axes.

FiberOut collimator

FiberOut for collimated free-beam delivery. Rugged solution with low handling effort.

2 fibers with fiber-splitter and fiber switch

Systems equipped with two laser fibers benefit from TOPTICA’s fiber switching technology, which combines fiber switching and fiber splitting in one option. Power hungry applications can benefit from the full power levels at the corresponding fiber, while applications such as a two light-sheet setup can benefit from an exact power balance between both fibers.

Separate fiber for dedicated wavelengths

An option available with the iChrome FLE is a separate fiber for up to two wavelengths. TOPTICA’s optical design allows two lasers to be carried in an additional fiber. These could be special wavelengths designed to run in a separate beam path (e.g. 405 or 780 nm, which are corrected separately within the microscope). Another option is to double an existing wavelength for simultaneous high-power operation (e.g. 405 or 488 nm for a separate FRAP input of a microscope).

Specifications

Downloads

PDF

Product information iChrome FLE

Literature

Papers

Skeletal muscle endothelial dysfunction through the activin A–PGC1α axis drives progression of cancer cachexia

Young-Mee Kim, et al., Skeletal muscle endothelial dysfunction through the activin A–PGC1α axis drives progression of cancer cachexia, Nature Cancer volume 6, pages1350 1369 (2025)
Chip-based label-free incoherent super-resolution optical microscopy

Nikhil Jayakumar, et al., Chip-based label-free incoherent super-resolution optical microscopy, Nature, Light: Science & Applications 14, Article number 259 (2025)
Bayesian Inference of Binding Kinetics from Fluorescence Time Series

J. Shepard Bryan IV et al., Bayesian Inference of Binding Kinetics from Fluorescence Time Series (2025)

Articles

Demand-tailored laser systems: Integrated multi-color laser solutions for quantum optics and biophotonics

Konstantin Birngruber, Stephan Falke Demand-tailored laser systems: Integrated multi-color laser solutions for quantum optics and biophotonics, Physik Journal Physics’ Best 2019
Bedarfsoptimierte Lasersysteme - Integrierte Multi-Farben-Laserlösungen für Quantenoptik und Biophotonik

Konstantin Birngruber, Stephan Falke Bedarfsoptimierte Lasersysteme - Integrierte MultiFarben-Laserlösungen für Quantenoptik und Biophotonik, Physik Journal Best of 2018
Four‐Color Laser Engine for Efficient Confocal Microscopy

Tim Paasch-Colberg, Konstantin Birngruber, Four‐Color Laser Engine for Efficient Confocal Microscopy, Optik & Photonik (2018)
Klaviatur der Farben

Dr. Marion Lang, Dr. Thomas Renner, Klaviatur der Farben, Laser (2011)
Lasers for Confocal Microscopy

Dr. Marion Lang, Lasers for Confocal Microscopy, Imaging & Microcopy (2011)

iChrome FLE Flexible 7-line laser combiner with up to 2 output fibers

Image Gallery

Your Benefits

Applications

Options

Specifications

Downloads

PDF

Product information iChrome FLE

Literature

Papers

Skeletal muscle endothelial dysfunction through the activin A–PGC1α axis drives progression of cancer cachexia

Chip-based label-free incoherent super-resolution optical microscopy

Bayesian Inference of Binding Kinetics from Fluorescence Time Series

Articles

Demand-tailored laser systems: Integrated multi-color laser solutions for quantum optics and biophotonics

Bedarfsoptimierte Lasersysteme - Integrierte Multi-Farben-Laserlösungen für Quantenoptik und Biophotonik

Four‐Color Laser Engine for Efficient Confocal Microscopy

Klaviatur der Farben

Lasers for Confocal Microscopy

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