Helios is a broadband pump-probe femtosecond transient absorption spectrometer. Helios is a complete turnkey system, which comes with an optical unit and a PC containing the necessary data acquisition hardware and software (Helios 3.x). Helios is designed to work with an amplified Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser. Helios comes with advanced data analysis software, Surface Xplorer, capable of various types of data processing including Global Analysis. With its broad spectral coverage from UV to NIR and the time window of up to 8 ns, Helios will produce superb spectral and kinetic data needed for your investigations of photoexcitation events with femtosecond time resolution.
Features:
- Fully computer controlled
- Acquires transient spectra over a broad wavelength range (350-1700 nm)
- Time window of up to 8 ns
- Transient Absorption Anisotropy Option
- Probe Reference option
For more details
and pricing information please Contact
Us
Probe Spectral Range:
Helios can be configured to probe transients
in any of the following spectral regions:
• 350-750 nm
• 450-800 nm
• 800-1600 nm
Spectral
Resolution:
Spectral resolution of the spectrometers
inside of Helios can be adjusted to customer’s
requirements.
Standard spectral resolution:
• VIS – 1.5 nm
• NIR – 3.5 nm
Time Window:
Standard - 3.3 ns
Optional - 6.6 ns
Temporal Resolution:
The instrument response function is determined
by the customer’s laser system and
has a typical FWHM of 1.4 times longer
than the laser pulse duration. The intrinsic
temporal resolution is 7 fs.
Temporal Chirp of
the Probe Pulse:
Helios employs an all-reflective supercontinuum
generation setup. This results in a very
low temporal chirp of the probe pulse
– ca. 200 fs (Value measured for
chirp optimized alignment, and is not
applicable to all probe alignment variations).
Transient Absorption
Anisotropy:
An optional extension to Helios allows
for transient absorption anisotropy measurements.
Probe Reference:
To accommodate additional experimental
requirements Helios has an option for
a second probe (reference) channel. In
this variant the probe beam is split into
two before passing through the sample.
While one leg travels through the sample,
the other is sent directly to the reference
spectrometer that monitors the fluctuations
in the probe beam intensity. The main
advantage of this technique is that it
allows the user to achieve the specified
signal-to-noise ratio with a lower number
of averaged laser pulses. This method
is primarily used for the experiments
with low repetition rate and/or easily
photodegradable samples where the number
of laser shots is strongly limited. The
advantage of the standard single probe
channel detection method remains in the
simpler optical alignment, which is especially
useful for multiuser facilities. With
the current versatility of Helios a user
can decide whether to run a single probe
channel experiment or to utilize the dual
channel detection. The switching between
the two data acquisition modes is very
quick and simple. |
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Data Format:
Helios produces a 3-Dimensional Wavelength-Time-Absorbance
data matrix in a form of an ASCII CSV file,
which can be easily processed with our software
or third party software.
VIS
Detector:
Fiber optics coupled multichannel spectrometer
with CMOS sensor with 1.5 nm intrinsic
resolution. Sensitivity range: 350-850
nm. Maximum spectral acquisition rate
- 9500 spectra/s. Can be mounted away
from Helios enclosure
NIR
Detector:
Fiber optics coupled multichannel spectrometer
with InGaAs sensor with 3.5 nm intrinsic
resolution. Sensitivity range: 800-1600
nm. Maximum spectral acquisition rate
- 7900 spectra/s. Can be mounted away
from Helios enclosure
Laser frequency range:
10-5000 Hz (depending on the digitizer
choice).
Software:
Data acquisition:
LabView based software for instrument
control and data acquisition. The software
allows for experiment automation, such
as present optics delay step sizes, averaging
time for each transient spectrum, time
window. Alternatively user can adjust
the above parameters during the data collection
process. Random delay line stepping is
available for the above regimes.
Data analysis:
Helios comes with a complete data acquisition
HeliosTM and data analysis Surface XplorerTM software package. Please refer to
the Surface Xplorer section for more
details.
Dimensions:
W24” x L36” x H10” (W610
x L915 x H250mm)
Download:
Helios_Datasheet.pdf
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For more
details and pricing information please Contact
Us
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Helios' unique continuum generation
unit allows for probing the transients
in several spectral regions. Below please
see an example of the data acquired with
Helios equipped with NIR extension.
The sample in the experiment is spheroidene,
open chain carotenoid pigment with 10
conjugated carbon-carbon double bonds.
This molecule appears in light harvesting
complexes (LH) and reaction centers (RC)
of photosynthetic bacteria Rhodobacter
Sphareoides and its photophysics is well
known. In this experiment data are taken
at 77 K with excitation wavelength at
500 nm.
The data example is courtesy of Prof.
Harry A. Frank, Department of Chemistry,
University of Connecticut.
Laser system coupled to Helios: Spitfire®
Pro, OPA-800
C
(Spectra-Physics*)
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For more
details and pricing information please
Contact
Us
* Tsunami®,
MaiTai® and Spitfire® are registered
trademarks of Spectra-Physics, Inc.
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Click
here to view the Helios video at www.newport.com
I've set up a number of pump-probe
experiments including a white-light
continuum probe-based system. Based
on this, I can certainly say that
the attention to detail paid when
developing the HELIOS instrument
has paid off in terms of convenience
and reliability. Since the moment
we've had the HELIOS installed it
has become one of the most used
pieces of equipment in our labs
and has certainly rewarded the investment
we've put in. |
| Dr.
Joel Hales
Senior Research Scientist
Georgia Institute of Technology
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This system is the most convenient
we've used for ultrafast transient
absorption detection, and achieves
excellent signal-to-noise with very
little day-to-day adjustment. The
technical and customer support have
been excellent. |
| Dr.
Emily Weiss
Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern
University |
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We purchased a prototype of the
Helios system seven years ago, and
since then we have been using it
continuously. It is easy to align
and it provides excellent and highly
reproducible data. The software
for the acquisition of transient
absorption data is easy to use and
provides a clear picture of the
spectral evolution during the experiment.
The Surface Xplorer Pro software
provides a very good support for
the spectral and kinetic analysis
of transient absorption data.
I would highly recommend both the
instrument and the software. |
| Dr.
Claudio Chiorboli
Research Director
Istituto per la Sintesi Organica
e la Fotoreattività (ISOF)
CNR
Dipartimento di Chimica dell'Università
di Ferrara |
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Purchasing the HELIOS system
has saved us a lot of time in building
the instrument and writing the code.
We use it all the time and it is
great. The Surface Xplorer software
is very good for analyzing the data.
I would highly recommend purchasing
this instrument! |
| Dr.
Joy E. Haley
Air Force Research Laboratory
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
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Thank you very much for your
outstanding customer care! You guys
are awesome. And so much different
than other companies in this business. |
| Dr.
Astrid M. Müller
California Institute of Technology |
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The Helios system has become one of the most requested instruments at the CNM and is usually booked a month or two in advance.
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| Dr.
David Gosztola
Argonne National Laboratory
Center for Nanoscale Materials. |
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| Gone are the days when you had to
worry about spending months to set
up a transient absorption spectrophotometer
for the femtosecond laser system.
When we decided to purchase a femtosecond
laser system, we approached Ultrafast
Systems for help setting up the transient
absorption instrument. Within a week
of the arrival of the laser, the UFS
engineers came over and set up the
whole system in just one day. The
next day we could already start collecting
data. Since then it has been used
without a hitch. For any new user
it takes only few minutes to get acquainted
with the software.
The Helios spectrometer from Ultrafast
Systems is a state of the art technology
that deserves to be on the bench
top of every photochemist. The pricing
of the whole package is modest and
it is user-friendly. For us, it
was a big saving of manpower and
time. The system is well thought
out. Its simplicity, compactness
and ease of use are some of the
best features that I have ever seen
in any commercial or homebuilt system.
With Helios we are planning to
tackle many issues related to the
charge transfer processes in semiconductor
nanostructures and molecular clusters.
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Prof. Prashant Kamat, The Notre Dame Radiation
Laboratory, University of Notre
Dame, IN. |
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I love it! This is a great product
that I definitely recommend.
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Prof. Clemens Burda (on Helios), Case Western
Reserve University. |
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There were some software bugs,
initially, but the technical support
was more than adequate to keep these
problems from detracting from the
product.
On the scale 1-5 I would rate Helios:
• Reliability: 5
• Quality: 5
• Easy to use: 5
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Prof. George N. Gibson, University of Connecticut. |
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The femtosecond spectrometer
system we obtained from you is terrific,
providing excellent and valuable
data for us. We appreciate that
very much. Because I have many friends
in Japan, I hope that our high evaluation
on your company help your business
in Japan.
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Prof. Shunichi Fukuzumi, Department of
Material and Life Science, Osaka
University, Japan . |
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Both HELIOS and HALCYONE are easy to align even if you are not a big expert so you can save time to collect many data that you can analyze with the support of the very well done software Surface Xplorer Pro.
Moreover technicians are always in contact with you to solve all the problems. Thank you. |
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Dr. Arianna Barbafina
(post doc at Chemistry Department, University of Perugia, ITALY under the supervision of Prof. Fausto Elisei) |
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Sandeep A. Patel, Matteo Cozzuol, Joel M. Hales, Chris I. Richards, Matthew Sartin, Jung-Cheng Hsiang, Tom Vosch, Joseph W. Perry, and Robert M. Dickson. "Electron Transfer-Induced Blinking in Ag Nanodot Fluorescence". J. Phys. Chem. C 20264 2009, 113, 20264–20270. |
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| Francis
D’Souza, Raghu Chitta, Kei
Ohkubo, Mariusz Tasior, Navaneetha
K. Subbaiyan, Melvin E. Zandler,
Maciek K. Rogacki, Daniel T. Gryko,
and Shunichi Fukuzumi
“Corrole-Fullerene Dyads:
Formation of Long-Lived Charge-Separated
States in Nonpolar Solvents”
J. AM. CHEM. SOC. 2008,
130, 14263–14272 9 14263
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Applications:
- Photophysics
- Photochemistry
- Photobiology
- Cell biology
- Materials science
- Nano-science
- Transient spectrometry, and many more areas
Typical examples of research topics involve studies of intramolecular processes such as:
- Electronic deactivation
- Intersystem crossing
- Vibrational relaxation
- Internal conversion
- Intramolecular electron transfer, etc
Advantages:
- Easy and quick installation
- Easy accommodation of harmonic generators and OPAs
- User-friendly
- Can be fully integrated into EOS to provide continuous temporal coverage from femtoseconds to seconds
- Superb data analysis software tool
- Proprietary spectrograph design for greater light sensitivity and higher signal-to-noise ratio
- State-of-the-art multichannel CMOS sensors
- Spectrum shaping filters
- 2D camera for extremely precise delay stage alignment
- Top quality components:
- Motion and vibration control (Newport)
- Detectors (Hamamatsu, Goodrich)
- Gratings (JY Horiba)
- Electronics (National Instruments)
- Optics and optomechanics (Newport, ThorLabs, CVI)
- 1-year warranty including free travel to customer’s site. Unlimited phone and on-line customer support.
| ACCESSORIES |
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DESCRIPTION |
| UV-Continuum |
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CaF2 based continuum generation module. Spectral range 350-750 nm. Includes a computer controlled motorized translation stage to move the crystal in order to minimize thermally induced instabilities. The stage module controls are integrated into Helios data acquisition software. |
| Apollo |
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Femtosecond Harmonics Generator with outputs at the fundamental, 2nd and 3rd harmonics of the Ti:Sapphire laser output. |
| Transport Optics |
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Transport optics kits for routing the laser output to our spectrometers. |
| Surface Xplorer |
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The Surface Xplorer software makes working with 3D time-resolved data fast and efficient. It combines strong presentational features including simultaneous 3D and 2D data display with powerful data analysis capabilities such as nonlinear fitting, SVD and Global Analysis. |
| Beam Alignment Tool |
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This device is designed for monitoring beam pointing stability and beam collimation in femtosecond spectrometry experiments where variable optical delay stage is used. Includes: camera assembly (USB 2.0) and control software. |
| 2D Translating Sample Holder |
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Motorized, computer controlled 2-D sample holder. Maximum translation area – 11x11 mm2. Sample holder controls are integrated into the spectrometer software. The stage is used for solid samples to minimize photodegradation effects on a kinetic profile. Labview based software is included. |
| High Speed Spectrometer |
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These spectrometers are designed to provide the maximum light throughput in HELIOS and EOS spectrometers. They consist of an imaging spectrograph and a high-speed multichannel detector. The spectrograph utilizes a high-efficiency, ion-etched, aberration corrected holographic grating. The highly sensitive detectors can be saturated with only 20-30% of a single femtosecond continuum pulse. Therefore their full dynamic range can be utilized with even strongly absorbing samples. The spectrometers can support multi-kHz sampling rates. |
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