Close-Up of Liquid Light Guide End

Features

Excellent Transmission from 340 to 800 nm
Numerical Aperture of 72°
Suitable for Rugged Environments
Adapters Designed to Mate Ø3 mm or Ø5 mm Liquid Light Guides to SM1 Thread Standard Available Below
Microscope Collimation Adapters Available Below
Ø2 and Ø8 mm Cores Available Upon Request

Thorlabs' Liquid Light Guides (LLGs) offer outstanding transmission from 340 - 800 nm for white light illumination applications. For large core diameters, liquid light guides are a more efficient transmission solution than fiber bundles as they eliminate the packing fraction loss (dead space) that fiber bundles have. These light guides are recommended for use with tungsten halogen, xenon, or metal halide light sources and can be mounted to an optical breadboard by using one of our VH1 V-Mounts, a Ø1/2" (12.7 mm) post, and post holder. The Ø3 mm and Ø5 mm light guides can also be mounted to SM1-threaded (1.035"-40) components using the adapters sold below.

These liquid light guides are offered from stock in lengths of 4', 6', and 8' with a core diameter of either 3 or 5 mm, and their long-term temperature range is -5 to 35 °C. LLGs with custom lengths or core diameters of 2 or 8 mm are also available as made-to-order items by contacting Technical Support.

Thorlabs also offers microscope collimation adapters for the Ø3 mm and Ø5 mm liquid light guides. These adapters allow the LLGs to be directed into the illumination ports used by various microscope manufacturers. For more information, please see below.

All transmission data presented here is typical. The maximum variation from lot to lot is ±5%. As a function of length, only minimal variations (<5%) are expected between our 4' (1.2 m), 6' (1.8 m), and 8' (2.4 m) long liquid light guides.

The shaded regions in the graphs below denote the spectral range over which we recommend using these liquid light guides.

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

Upon request, we can provide liquid light guides with Ø2 mm or Ø8 mm core sizes made from the same material as our Ø3 mm core and Ø5 mm core options. Typical transmission curves for these are provided below as a reference. For more information, please contact Technical Support.

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

Liquid Light Guide Dimensions

Active Core Diameter	Standard End Fittings				Protective Sleeve	Min. Bending Radius
d₀	d₁	l₁	d₂	l₂	d₃
2 mm^a	4 +0/-0.1 mm	6.7 ± 0.1 mm	8 ± 0.1 mm	20 ± 0.1 mm	5.5 ± 0.1 mm	30 mm
3 mm	5 +0/-0.1 mm	20 ± 0.1 mm	9 ± 0.1 mm	24 ± 0.1 mm	7 ± 0.1 mm	40 mm
5 mm	7 +0/-0.1 mm	20 ± 0.1 mm	10 ± 0.1 mm	24 ± 0.1 mm	9.5 ± 0.1 mm	60 mm
8 mm^a	10 +0/-0.1 mm	20 ± 0.1 mm	15 ± 0.1 mm	40 ± 0.1 mm	12.5 ± 0.1 mm	100 mm

Available as made-to-order items. Please contact Tech Support to order these core diameters.

The drawing and photograph below illustrate the dimensions given in the table above. 180 ± 0° indicates the flatness tolerence between the metal and black material in the segment labled I₂.

Cleaning the Optical End Faces
of Liquid Light Guides

The optical end faces of these liquid light guides are made of fused silica, Teflon and either aluminum, chrome plated brass, or stainless steel. All of these materials are very resistant to all common cleaning solvents, making them easy to clean. Please note that when using solvents to clean the end faces, you cannot submerge the tip of the light guide in the solvent, or use a heavily soaked cleaning pad, as the solvent may get into the light guide, causing damage. If you find that debris from the light guide end cannot be removed by using a solvent, you can gently use a razor blade to clean the tip, making sure that you do not chip the edge of the fused silica glass window.

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Posted Comments:

Poster: bdada

Posted Date: 2012-03-15 13:00:00.0

Response from Buki at Thorlabs: We would not recommend a laser source for use with the Liquid Light Guides. The only light sources for the LLG that we have tested are our HPLS243 and HPLS245 plasma light sources. In addition to our light sources, we also recommend tungsten halogen, xenon or metal halide light sources. Please contact TechSupport@thorlabs.com to discuss your application further so we can suggest alternative solutions.

Poster:

Posted Date: 2012-03-07 11:59:32.0

Are LLGs suitable for delivery of 532nm pulsed laser sources? Jon

Poster: bdada

Posted Date: 2012-01-25 16:42:00.0

Response from Buki at Thorlabs: Thank you for using our feedback forum. The only light sources for the LLG that we have tested are our HPLS243 and HPLS245 plasma light sources. In addition to our light sources, we also recommend tungsten halogen, xenon or metal halide light sources. For any light source, the main factors to consider are the wavelength range and possible overheating. Light below 400nm and above 750 - 800nm could damage the LLG and should be filtered out. If the temperature of the LLG stays above 35 degrees Celcius for a prolonged period, it could affect the transmisison properties. We have contacted you to provide additional information.

Poster: iftachn

Posted Date: 2012-01-18 09:45:26.0

Would this light guide work well for a mercury lamp illuminator such as the Nikon Intensilight ?

Poster: bdada

Posted Date: 2012-01-12 20:02:00.0

Response from Buki at Thorlabs: The liquid light guide is recommeded for use with tungsten halogen, xenon or metal halide light sources. If you are looking for a fiber coupled LED (MCWHL2), please consider MCWHF1 - Cold White (5600K) Fiber-Coupled High-Power LED, SMA, 1000 mA. The product link is below. You would need to purchase the fiber cable separately. Please contact TechSupport@thorlabs.com if you have any questions. http://thorlabs.com/NewGroupPage9.cfm?ObjectGroup_ID=5206

Poster:

Posted Date: 2012-01-12 14:21:25.0

Is it possible to use the liguid light guide with an LED (part # MCWHL2)? Tefo

Poster: jjurado

Posted Date: 2011-07-25 10:02:00.0

Response from Javier at Thorlabs to ckonek: Thank you very much for contacting us. We currently do not sell collimators specifically designed for liquid light guides. However, we do offer a few components that you can use to put together your own collimation insert. For example, if you are interested in the 5 mm core diameter liquid light guides, you can use an AD8F adapter to mount the LLG into an SM1 lens tube like the SM1M20. In order to collect the output from the LLG, you can use a condenser lens like ACL2520. Keep in mind that the output from the lens will still be divergent, due to the large core size of the LLG. AD8F: http://www.thorlabs.com/NewGroupPage9.cfm?ObjectGroup_ID=1746 SM1M20: http://www.thorlabs.com/NewGroupPage9.cfm?ObjectGroup_ID=3307&pn=SM1M20#3387 ACL2520: http://www.thorlabs.com/NewGroupPage9.cfm?ObjectGroup_ID=3835

Poster: ckonek

Posted Date: 2011-07-20 10:33:59.0

Im wondering if you sell collimators for your liquid light guide products. Chris

Poster: Thorlabs

Posted Date: 2010-09-22 11:45:51.0

Response from Javier at Thorlabs to walter.clark: the main advantage of liquid light guides over fiber bundles is their large numerical aperture. Our liquid light guides have a numerical aperture of 72°, whereas most common fiber bundles have an NA around half of this value. Another advantage is that liquid light guides eliminate the packing fraction loss (dead space) that fiber bundles have.

Poster: walter.clark

Posted Date: 2010-09-20 17:42:50.0

I dont understand why liquid is better than solid. Is it because it is more flexible? Then why not bundle more fibers? Walt

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