Köhler Illuminator
The PUMA Köhler illuminator kit
allows upgrading the microscope to
use a powered LED illuminator
thereby freeing you from being
dependent on finding a good external
light source (as you are with the
original Foundation scope mirror
system). It also gives more control
over the intensity of the light source
and its wavelength because the LED
used can be obtained in a variety of
wavelengths as optional extras.
The light source LED can be powered
using the simple PUMA Lite battery-
operated control box or the larger (but
also portable) PUMA Control Console
which, in addition to powering the LED
like the PUMA Lite, also sports an
Arduino Nano microcontroller and
multimedia interface to allow TFT
screen-based devices and the
(optional) stage Z-motor to be
controlled. Both the PUMA Lite and
the PUMA Control Console can also be
powered by an external mains power
supply if full portability is not required.
The Köhler illuminator offers access to
the illuminated field stop which is also
controlled by filters that are cross-
compatible with the filters used for
the condenser aperture described
above (the illuminating aperture stop).
The standard Köhler illuminator gives
good uniform illumination for objectives of x10 to x100 oil. The field of view of the x4
objective is a little too wide for the standard Köhler setup and will show some darkening
at the extreme periphery of the field but is still useable. If you really need full Köhler flat
field illumination with a x4 lens then there is an optional upgrade to the standard Köhler
illuminator which will allow that.
One limitation of the PUMA Köhler illuminator is that the lenses display some
polarisation birefringence meaning that you cannot use it for trans-polarisation
microscopy. For polarisation microscopy a dedicated illuminator module is available
(see below for details).
PUMA Foundation Scope
Page 27 of 40
User’s Manual v1.0
Multiple upgrades applied as follows:
1. Long legs system
2. Köhler illuminator
3. Motorised Z-stage
4. PUMA Control console
5. XY slide holder
6. Advanced filter block
7. AR HUD system