30 BD FACSAria User’s Guide
potential sample carryover. Using a special cleaning mode, the entire sample
injection chamber can be decontaminated with ethanol. See Clean Bulk Injection
Chamber on page 191 for more information.
Cuvette Flow Cell
The cuvette flow cell is the heart of the BD FACSAria cytometer (Figure 1-9).
Within the flow cell, hydrodynamic focusing forces particles through the cuvette
in a single-file stream, where laser light intercepts the stream at the sample
interrogation point.
Figure 1-9 Cuvette flow cell
The unique flow cell design permits particles to flow through the cuvette at a low
velocity (approximately 13 cm/sec for the high Sort Setup), allowing longer
exposure to laser energy. The cuvette is gel-coupled to the fluorescent objective
lens to transmit the greatest amount of emitted light from the interrogation point
to the collection optics (see Optics System on page 36). After passing through the
cuvette, the stream is accelerated (to approximately 69 cm/sec with the 70-µm
nozzle) as it enters the nozzle tip, where the drop drive breaks the stream into
droplets for sorting.
To prevent injury from moving parts, keep your hands and clothing away
from the loading port when a tube is loading or unloading. Do not place
objects under the loading port.
nozzle
flow cell
interrogation point
laser light intercepting flow cell
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