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Appendix A: Technical Overview
109
Optics System
As stained cells or other particles pass through the focused laser beam, they
scatter the laser light and fluoresce. Because the laser beam is focused and
particles move rapidly through the flow cell, the scatter or fluorescence emission
has a very brief duration—only a few microseconds. This brief flash of light is
collected, filtered, and then converted into an electrical signal by the detectors.
Figure A-3
Light pathway through the BD FACSCanto II flow cytometer
fiber optic cables
steering plate
red laser
blue laser
flow cell
fiber optic
cable
BP
filter
LP
mirror
PMT
detector
obscuration
bar
collecting
lens
forward scatter
diode detector
stained
particle
focusing
lens
violet laser
prisms
Summary of Contents for FACSCanto II
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