Dichroic mirrors that reflect two wavelengths

[gkiverm]

In fluorescence microscopy, dichroic mirrors reflect light under a critical wavelength (used to excite the sample) and transmit light over a critical wavelength (emission light from the sample). Are there mirrors that reflect two different wavelengths of light and transmit the rest? Essentially a dichroic mirror with two regions of reflection and two regions of transmittance instead of one each.

 

[Ygggdrasil]

Yes, these are often referred to as polychroic mirrors, dual-band dichroics, or dual- edge dichroics. If you're using two laser light sources, you could also get away with a standard dichroic to get rid of the shorter wavelength excitation light, and a notch filter to get rid of the longer wavelength excitation light.

 

[gkiverm]

Are there also filters that only allow two ranges of wavelengths to pass through as opposed to one? Basically a band pass filter with two regions of transmission. I'm sorry, I'm having little luck finding this online for some reason.

 

[Ygggdrasil]

Yup, just look up dual band filter sets from your favorite supplier. For example, see

https://www.microscopyu.com/articles/fluorescence/filtercubes/dual/dualhome.html
https://www.chroma.com/knowledge-resources/fluorescence-filters/multiband-filter-set

Many of these companies can custom manufacture filters and multichroic mirrors for particular applications. My lab has a few custom quad- and penta-band filter sets for certain multicolor fluorescence microscopy experiments.