The Art and Science of Criminal Investigation
Low-cost, portable unit affords law enforcement agencies worldwide the power of lasers to recover trace evidence otherwise left undiscovered.
Santa Clara, Calif., April 19, 2006 – Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHR), a world leader in providing laser-based solutions to the commercial and scientific research markets, today announced the release of TracER™, a hand-portable, laser-based system designed to be the ultimate tool for trace evidence detection, particularly of latent prints.
TracER – which stands for Trace Evidence Recovery – is a highly cost-effective green output light source for use in crime labs and at crime scenes, as well as for covert and homeland security applications. It is a unique and powerful tool designed to recover trace evidence at crime scenes, including latent fingerprints that might otherwise go undiscovered when using traditional lamp-based systems.
Based on a 5-Watt green laser, TracER significantly lowers the barrier to laser use in forensics by delivering enhanced performance and ease of use in an economical, portable device. The TracER’s high intensity output enables it to perform a non-destructive crime-scene sweep with unprecedented efficiency; it can recover fingerprints and other trace evidence solely from inherent fluorescence. In addition, the 532 nm wavelength is ideal for use with fumed samples and fluorescent probes such as ninhydrin.
The compact, portable unit includes both battery and AC (110/240 V) operation, further enhancing its ease of use. While the TracER is comparable in size and price to systems that utilize an alternative light source, it offers 10X higher brightness. In addition, TracER includes a fiber-coupled multi-function hand piece, which incorporates power controls (e.g., on/off, output level) as well as optical zoom capabilities to optimize the size and intensity of the speckle-free illumination area.
Lasers have long been known to offer superior evidence recovery capabilities when compared to lamp-based systems. However, the high cost and lack of portability of traditional laser technology have limited lasers to a few well-funded crime labs. TracER leverages Coherent’s unique optically pumped semiconductor laser (OPSL) technology to deliver the advantages of laser illumination in a system that is approximately one third the cost and one quarter the weight of existing laser-based tools.
TracER is available now for $47,000 and can be purchased by calling 1-800-527-3786, or e-mailing tech.sales@coherent.com
Founded in 1966, Coherent, Inc. is a Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 company and a world leader in providing laser-based solutions to the commercial and scientific research markets. For more information about Coherent, including product and financial updates, visit our Web site at http://www.Coherent.com
