February 28, 2011
`
`
`R&D 100 Awards
`200 Clearwater Drive
`Oak Brook, IL 60523
`
`To Whom It May Concern:
`
`As a founder of one of the major providers of optical components for biotechnology and
`analytical instruments, I am keenly aware of the challenges faced by the developers and
`users of instrumentation in these areas. It is well known that light source technology is
`one of the key limiting factors for these instruments. In particular, there are four main
`problems with broadband light sources that span near-UV to near-IR wavelengths today:
`poor brightness, short lifetime, low stability, and limited performance in the UV.
`
`These problems are hampering scientific research based on optical instrumentation as
`well as the potential for these instruments to revolutionize clinical diagnostic and medical
`applications. For example, poor brightness (a measure of the amount of light intensity
`per wavelength interval coming from a given source size and going into a certain
`direction) greatly limits measurement speed for applications like screening in drug
`discovery as well as sensitivity in applications like single-molecule imaging for cell
`biology research. The poor lifetime of today’s light sources (typically light “bulbs” must
`be changed after only 100’s of hours of use) translates into expense resulting from
`instrument downtime, as well as poor repeatability since the light source properties are
`diminishing rapidly over a short time span. Poor signal-to-noise ratios resulting from low
`stability and the inaccessibility to certain measurements due to insufficient light intensity
`at UV wavelengths also provide severe limitations to experiments and analysis today.
`
`Fortunately, the breakthrough technology recently introduced by Energetiq Technology
`has dramatically changed the playing field. The EQ-99 system demonstrates the highly
`desirable intensity and wavelength range of a Xe arc lamp, especially at UV
`wavelengths, yet with at least two orders of magnitude higher brightness and more than
`an order of magnitude improvement in each of the lifetime and stability. As a result
`many new instruments – especially for fluorescence imaging and analysis – that were
`once limited by awkward optical systems can now utilize glass optical fiber for
`compactness and efficiency. And systems like high-pressure liquid chromatography
`(HPLC) that were limited to the poor brightness and lifetime of UV deuterium lamps can
`now see tremendous improvements in cost of operation, sensitivity, and throughput.
`
`No doubt numerous other instrumentation improvements will follow when optical system
`designers begin to really exploit the advantages of this new light source technology.
`
`Sincerely,
`
`
`
`Turan Erdogan, Ph.D., CTO
`Semrock, Inc., A Unit of IDEX Corp.
`3625 Buffalo Road
`Rochester, NY 14624
`tel: (585) 594-7001
`fax: (585) 594-7095
`terdogan@idexcorp.com
`
`Energetiq Ex. 2017, page 1 - IPR2015-01362