The APEX2 series light sources are complete illumination systems designed to provide a fully integrated, compact, and economical solution for scientific and industrial applications. These CE and RoHS compliant systems can be simply used as is once plugged in or the light output can be modified to the user's requirements with their integrated features such as the filter wheel, iris, and utility software for USB control.
Easy optical coupling to existing Oriel® Spectrographs and Monochromators and compatibility with TracQ Basic Version 6.6 make the APEX2 ready to be integrated into a complete spectroscopy or other light analysis setup.
The APEX2-XE uses the 6252 100 W Ozone Free Xe lamp as its illumination source. Xe arc lamps produce a spectral output curve that is almost featureless in the UV and NIR regions, with characteristic Xe lines emitted from 750-1000 nm. Due to their sun-like emission spectrum, Xe lamps are widely used for solar simulation applications. Their high intensity, broadband output also make them popular excitation sources for absorbance and fluorescence applications. The 6252 is an Ozone Free Xe lamp, useful for applications that do not require wavelength emission below 260 nm and features an ellipsoidal reflector to maximize light throughput throughout the APEX2-XE system.
The output flange of the APEX2 is the standard Oriel 1.5 inch flange, making for easy mechanical coupling with several existing Oriel instruments. Along with its wide compatibility with existing Oriel software packages, the APEX2 can be used with the following instruments:
The APEX-2 includes a manual iris, capable of reducing the light output intensity to 2% at its smallest setting. This iris is convenient for preventing detector saturation. By reducing the size of the output aperture instead of using optics, a neutral density filter and mechanical coupling are not necessary.
Igniting an arc lamp too frequently results in reduced lifetime. A manual shutter is integrated into the APEX2 to allow the user to close off the light path while the lamp is warming up, or during a short period when light output is not desired such as a change in setup.
A filter wheel is integrated into the assembly of the APEX2. Up to six order-sorting or neutral density filters can added (1.0 in or 25.4 mm diameter, 0.2 in. or 6 mm thickness) and filters can be changed as fast as 1.7 s/filter. An LED display indicating the filter wheel's current position is located on the rear panel so user can observe this while not being in the path of the output light, preventing exposure to UV radiation. Aside from manual control via the push button on the system, the filter wheel position can be controlled externally using the following methods: