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Exceptional illumination with compact EVOS light cubes
EVOS light cubes have been optimized to take cell imaging to the next level. They feature improved opto-mechanical design and spectrally optimized optical components—resulting in excellent illumination uniformity across the field of view and maximum signal-to-background ratios even with dim samples. These interchangeable LED cubes enable precise control with plug-and-play capability across all EVOS imaging systems.
Choose from 13 available light cubes—matching the spectra to the dyes you want to use (a wide range of dyes are supported). Many customers choose some combination of DAPI, GFP, RFP or Texas Red, and Cy5 or Cy7 dyes. The table below shows common dyes detected by these six popular light cubes.
Light cubes are available individually or in convenient light cube starter kits. Additional light cubes can be purchased at any time to help meet new application requirements.
Popular light cubes and their common compatible dyes
| Light cube | Color | Excitation (nm) | Emission (nm) | Compatible dyes | Category number |
| DAPI | Blue | 357/44 | 447/60 | DAPI, Hoechst, NucBlue, Alexa Fluor 350, BFP | AMEP4950 |
| GFP | Green | 470/22 | 525/50 | GFP, Alexa Fluor 488, Calcein, SYBR Green, FITC, Fluo-4, MitoTracker Green, pHrodo Green | AMEP4951 |
| RFP | Orange | 531/40 | 593/40 | RFP, Alexa Fluor 546/555, PE, Cy3, MitoTracker Orange, Rhodamine Red, SYTOX Orange | AMEP4952 |
| Texas Red | Red | 585/29 | 628/32 | Texas Red, Alexa Fluor 568/594, MitoTracker Red CMXRos, mCherry, pHrodo Red, Cy3.5, CellTracker Red CMTPX | AMEP4955 |
| Cy5 | Deep Red | 628/40 | 685/40 | Cy5, Alexa Fluor 647/660, DRAQ5 | AMEP4956 |
| Cy7 | Near-IR | 716/40 | 794/32 | Cy7, IRDye® 800CW, DyLight 750 | AMEP4667 |
Featured images and videos
Constant light intensity
Mercury arc lamps can lose 50% of their intensity in the first 100 hours of operation! In addition, images acquired in different sessions cannot be quantitatively compared using without complicated calibrations. Because EVOS LED light sources produce constant light intensity, users can rely on consistent illumination and can compare results quantitatively from images acquired on different days.
Stability of light intensity over time. LED light sources (top line) produce constant light intensity for the duration of their long life. In contrast, mercury arc lamps (bottom line) lose light intensity rapidly and must be replaced often.
Less expensive to own and maintain
The LED bulbs on the EVOS systems are rated for >50,000 hours (~17 years), compared to 300 hours for a typical mercury bulb (and 1,500 hours for a metal halide bulb). That means significant savings in the overall upkeep of your instrument.
What light sources really cost. Over time, EVOS LED light cubes are less expensive than metal halide or mercury lamps.
Hard-coated filter sets for higher transmission efficiency
Hard-coated filter sets are more expensive but have sharper edges and significantly higher transmission efficiencies that typically result in >25% more light transmission than traditional soft-coated filters. With the EVOS system’s hard-coated filter sets, your light cubes cost less over time—and provide brighter fluorescence, higher transmission efficiencies, the ability to detect faint fluorescence signals, and better signal-to-noise ratios.
Transmission efficiency comparison. Graphs show superior transmission efficiencies observed using hard-coated EVOS filters (top graph) compared to soft-coated filters (bottom graph). Signal is shown for the excitation filter (purple), emission filter (red), and dichroic mirror (green) against Alexa Fluor 488 excitation (blue) and emission (pink) spectra.
Ordering information
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.