Prima

• Simple multi-wavelength setup
• Lower system complexity
• Cost-effective excitation source
• Improved data quality
• Easy integration & control
• Reliable long-term stability

The PicoQuant Prima is a compact, stand-alone 3-color gain-switched picosecond laser designed for researchers who require multiple excitation wavelengths without the complexity, space requirements, and alignment effort associated with multiple individual laser systems.

Unlike a conventional single-wavelength laser, Prima allows users to select three wavelengths from a range of six available visible/near-UV wavelengths: 375, 405, 450, 485, 515, and 640 nm. The selected wavelengths are generated individually, one at a time, allowing researchers to adapt the excitation source to different samples, fluorophores, or measurement requirements.

Prima supports picosecond pulsed operation, continuous-wave operation, and fast CW switching, making it suitable for both time-resolved and steady-state measurements. In pulsed mode, the system can be internally triggered from 1 kHz to 200 MHz or externally triggered from single-shot operation up to 200 MHz.

The combination of high repetition rate and multiple wavelengths makes Prima particularly useful for fluorescence lifetime, photoluminescence lifetime, time-resolved microscopy, and spectroscopy. The system can also be used for longer lifetime measurements in the microsecond-to-millisecond range by using its fast CW switching capability.

A major advantage of Prima is its stand-alone architecture. The laser does not require a separate laser driver; operating parameters are controlled through computer software via USB-C. This simplifies system integration and reduces the amount of hardware required on the optical table.

Prima can also be integrated into more advanced excitation schemes. When combined with suitable external trigger sources or other PicoQuant laser diode heads, it can support excitation patterns such as Burst, Pulsed Interleaved Excitation (PIE), and Alternating Laser Excitation (ALEX).

Product Type: Stand-Alone 3-Color Gain-Switched Picosecond Laser
Product Family: Prima
Laser Technology: Gain-Switched Diode Laser
Number of Selectable Colors: 3
Available Wavelengths: 375, 405, 450, 485, 515, 640 nm
Wavelength Selection: Any 3 wavelengths from available options
Emission: One selected wavelength at a time
Operation Modes: Picosecond Pulsed / CW / Fast CW Switching
Internal Repetition Rate: 1 kHz–999 kHz; 1–200 MHz
External Trigger Rate: Single Shot–200 MHz
Timing Jitter: <12 ps RMS
Optical Rise/Fall Time: <3 ns
Power Stability: <3% RMS over 12 h
Warm-Up Time: <2 min*
Beam Circularity: 0.5–1.0
Transverse Mode: M² <1.5
Average Beam Diameter: 1.0 ± 0.30 mm
Polarization: Linear, vertical
Polarization Extinction Ratio: >30:1 typical (>15 dB)
Fiber Coupling Efficiency: >70% into multimode fiber
Temperature Range: 10–35°C
Humidity: <80%, non-condensing
Maximum Power Consumption: <30 W
PC Interface: USB 2.0
Connector: USB-C
Operating System: Windows 10 / 11

1. Fluorescence Lifetime Measurements

• Fluorescence Lifetime
• Time-Resolved Fluorescence
• Fluorescence Decay Analysis
• Molecular Photophysics
• Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Prima is designed to provide short excitation pulses for measuring fluorescence decay on the nanosecond timescale.

2. Photoluminescence Lifetime

• Photoluminescence Lifetime
• Time-Resolved Photoluminescence
• Semiconductor Research
• Nanomaterials
• Quantum Dots
• Perovskite Research

The combination of pulsed excitation and fast CW switching makes Prima suitable for both short and much longer luminescence lifetimes, including µs–ms decay times.

3. Time-Resolved Microscopy

• Time-Resolved Microscopy
• Fluorescence Microscopy
• Confocal Microscopy
• Lifetime Imaging
• Biological Imaging

The multiple wavelength options allow researchers to adapt the excitation source to different fluorescent probes and samples.

4. FLIM

• Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy
• FLIM
• Time-Resolved Imaging
• Cellular Imaging
• Biological Research

Prima can provide picosecond excitation for lifetime-based imaging experiments and can be integrated with appropriate microscopy and photon-counting systems.

5. FRET

• Förster Resonance Energy Transfer
• FRET
• PIE-FRET
• Protein Interaction Studies
• Molecular Biology

The availability of multiple excitation wavelengths and support for advanced excitation schemes such as PIE makes Prima suitable for multi-color fluorescence and FRET experiments.

6. FCS

• Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy
• Molecular Diffusion
• Single-Molecule Studies
• Biomolecular Dynamics

Prima can be used as an excitation source for fluorescence correlation and photon-counting experiments.

7. Quantum Yield Measurements

• Quantum Yield
• Photoluminescence Quantum Yield
• Fluorescence Quantum Yield
• Nanomaterial Characterization

Its multiple wavelength options make it useful when different samples require different excitation wavelengths. PicoQuant specifically lists quantum yield measurements among Prima's applications.

8. Materials Science

• Materials Science
• Nanomaterials
• Quantum Dots
• Semiconductor Materials
• Optical Characterization
• Photoluminescent Materials

The availability of three selected excitation wavelengths allows researchers to investigate samples with different absorption characteristics without maintaining multiple independent laser systems.

PicoQuant specifically identifies materials science as one of Prima's target application areas.

9. Life Science

• Life Science
• Fluorescence-Based Research
• Biological Imaging
• Molecular Spectroscopy
• Biomolecular Research

Multiple excitation wavelengths are particularly useful for experiments involving different fluorescent labels or biological probes.

10. Single-Molecule Detection

• Single-Molecule Detection
• Single-Molecule Fluorescence
• Photon Counting
• Molecular Dynamics

Prima can provide pulsed excitation for single-molecule experiments and time-resolved photon-counting measurements. PicoQuant lists single-molecule detection among its applications.

11. Single-Photon LiDAR
An interesting newer application is single-photon LiDAR / Doppler single-photon LiDAR.

A 2025 PicoQuant customer story describes the use of Prima by researchers at Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) for Doppler single-photon LiDAR, where the high repetition rate and wavelength flexibility were important factors in the system selection.

This is a good application to mention in technical content because it demonstrates that Prima is not limited to conventional fluorescence experiments.