Varian, Inc. debuts UV-Vis-NIR system tartgeting fiber optic applications

March 13, 2001

Mar. 13, 2001--Varian, Inc. introduced the Cary 500i, what the company claims to be the first commercially available UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer to use an InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) detector.

Varian, Inc. (Nasdaq:VARI) introduced the Cary 500i, what the company claims to be the first commercially available UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer to use an InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) detector. As a result, the Cary 500i boasts detector performance up to ten times better than existing technology, and offers the highest photometric capabilities of any large-scale commercial double-beam spectrophotometer.

Superior InGaAs detector performance gives the Cary 500i the ability to characterize modern broadband telecommunications system components requiring photometric measurements over the entire 800 nm to 1700 nm wavelength range. Such performance parameters are required for critical fiber optic development processes including characterization of beam splitters and WDM (wavelength division multiplexing) optical filters found in modern telecommunications networks.

The InGaAs detector provides significantly increased sensitivity at infrared wavelengths when compared to that available with standard lead-sulfide detectors. Such performance is possible because of the InGaAs detector's improved signal-to-noise ratio. This enables greater limiting resolution measurements, making it possible to characterize samples with narrower NIR spectral features, such as narrow bandpass filters.

The Cary 500i UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer will be available in May 2001.

About Varian:

Varian, Inc. provides scientific instrument, vacuum technology, and electronic manufacturing solutions to customers in the life science, health care, chemical, environmental, industrial and electronics industries. For more information, visit www.varianinc.com.