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CrystaLaser Lasers in the Early Optogenetics Research Honored by the 2026 Nobel Prize

October 2026 · CrystaLaser, Reno, Nevada
On October 5, 2026, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for their work on light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. Several of the Deisseroth laboratory's early papers (2007–2010), which took optogenetics from the cell dish into living animals, name CrystaLaser as the maker of the 473 nm blue and 561 nm yellow fiber-coupled lasers used in the experiments.

Optogenetics and the Light-Source Problem

CrystaLaser compact DPSS laser heads with FC fiber-optic coupling CrystaLaser compact DPSS laser heads with FC fiber coupling (product photo). The early papers describe this type of setup: a 473 nm laser coupled into a multimode optical fiber.

Optogenetics puts light-sensitive proteins from algae and microbes into chosen nerve cells. Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2), discovered by Nagel and Hegemann, switches neurons on with blue light. Halorhodopsin (NpHR) switches them off with yellow light. Light can then control those cells with millisecond timing.

The first demonstration in cultured neurons (Boyden et al., 2005) used a filtered 300 W xenon arc lamp on a microscope. To control deep brain structures in a living, freely moving animal, the researchers needed a source that was bright, stable, could be switched in milliseconds, and could be coupled efficiently into a fiber thin enough to implant. Compact diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers with a TEM00 beam and fiber output met those needs.

The Nobel Committee's scientific background describes this step: Deisseroth and colleagues developed an optical neural interface using laser diodes coupled to optical fibers, which enabled precise illumination and control of defined deep brain structures in freely behaving animals (Aravanis et al., 2007).

CrystaLaser in the Published Record

The Methods sections and figure legends of the papers below name CrystaLaser as the laser source. The quotes are taken from the published text.

PaperWhat the paper saysWavelength
Aravanis AM, … Deisseroth K. An optical neural interface: in vivo control of rodent motor cortex with integrated fiberoptic and optogenetic technology. J Neural Eng 4:S143–S156 (2007). doi …coupled to a blue diode laser (473 nm, CrystaLaser)… and …coupled to a 473 nm diode pumped laser (20 mW output power uncoupled; CrystaLaser). This is the in vivo fiber-optic paper cited by the Nobel Committee. The setup is drawn in Figure 4(a): the blue laser diode was coupled to a 200 µm multimode silica-core optical fiber. 473 nm
Zhang F, … Nagel G, … Deisseroth K. Multimodal fast optical interrogation of neural circuitry. Nature 446:633–639 (2007). doi …the combination of a 473 nm blue diode laser (Crystal Lasers) and a 300 W Lambda DG-4 with a 593 nm excitation filter. This is the paper that paired ChR2 with halorhodopsin for two-way control. 473 nm
Gradinaru V, … Deisseroth K. Targeting and readout strategies for fast optical neural control in vitro and in vivo. J Neurosci 27(52):14231–14238 (2007). PMC Figure 2A legend: FC/PC-coupled fiber optic is shown (middle) coupled to a 473 nm laser diode from CrystaLaser (Reno, NV) through an FC/PC adapter. This is a published photograph of a CrystaLaser laser with its fiber coupling, used for optical stimulation combined with electrical recording in the intact mouse brain. 473 nm
Gradinaru V, Thompson KR, Deisseroth K. eNpHR: a Natronomonas halorhodopsin enhanced for optogenetic applications. Brain Cell Biol 36:129–139 (2008). PMC The fiberoptic was coupled to a 561 nm laser diode from CrystaLaser (Reno, NV). This is yellow light for optical silencing. 561 nm
Zhang F, Gradinaru V, … Deisseroth K. Optogenetic interrogation of neural circuits: technology for probing mammalian brain structures. Nat Protoc 5:439–456 (2010). PMC The equipment list in this lab protocol gives the model: 473 nm diode laser (Cryst Laser, cat. no. BCL-473-050; 50mW, 473nm, TEMoo CW laser with TTL on/off, analog output intensity modulation…) 473 nm
Gradinaru V, Zhang F, … Deisseroth K. Molecular and cellular approaches for diversifying and extending optogenetics. Cell 141:154–165 (2010). PMC The optical fiber was coupled to a 473 nm (for ChR2) or 560 nm (for eNpHR3.0) laser diode (10 mW fiber output) from CrystaLaser. 473 / 560 nm

Other laboratories adopted the same approach. For example, Haubensak et al. (Nature, 2010) and Brown et al. (PLoS One, 2010) also report CrystaLaser 473 nm lasers for in vivo stimulation.

CrystaLaser's Contribution

Between 2005 and 2007, when optogenetics was a new, unproven idea, CrystaLaser supplied blue DPSS lasers with fiber coupling to Dr. Deisseroth's group at Stanford University. Those lasers were used in the work that first brought light-based control of neurons into the living brain. The 2010 Nature Protocols paper later listed the CrystaLaser BCL-473-050 by catalog number as the recommended light source, and laboratories around the world built their optogenetics setups from that protocol.

Lasers for Optogenetics Today

CrystaLaser still designs and builds compact DPSS lasers for neuroscience in Reno, Nevada:

For an optogenetics configuration, use the information request form and include the wavelength, fiber core and NA, the power needed at the fiber tip, and the modulation scheme.

References

  1. Nobel Prize Outreach. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2026, and the Scientific Background.
  2. Boyden ES, Zhang F, Bamberg E, Nagel G, Deisseroth K. Millisecond-timescale, genetically targeted optical control of neural activity. Nat Neurosci 8:1263–1268 (2005). doi:10.1038/nn1525
  3. Aravanis AM, Wang LP, Zhang F, Meltzer LA, Mogri MZ, Schneider MB, Deisseroth K. J Neural Eng 4:S143–S156 (2007). doi:10.1088/1741-2560/4/3/S02
  4. Zhang F, Wang LP, Brauner M, Liewald JF, Kay K, Watzke N, Wood PG, Bamberg E, Nagel G, Gottschalk A, Deisseroth K. Nature 446:633–639 (2007). doi:10.1038/nature05744
  5. Gradinaru V, Thompson KR, Zhang F, Mogri M, Kay K, Schneider MB, Deisseroth K. J Neurosci 27:14231–14238 (2007). doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3578-07.2007
  6. Gradinaru V, Thompson KR, Deisseroth K. Brain Cell Biol 36:129–139 (2008). PMC2588488
  7. Zhang F, Gradinaru V, Adamantidis AR, et al. Nat Protoc 5:439–456 (2010). doi:10.1038/nprot.2009.226
  8. Gradinaru V, Zhang F, Ramakrishnan C, et al. Cell 141:154–165 (2010). PMC4160532

The quotations above are from the cited publications and appear here for reference. CrystaLaser is not affiliated with the Nobel Foundation or Nobel Prize Outreach, and this page does not suggest that the Nobel laureates or their institutions endorse CrystaLaser. Nobel Prize® is a registered trademark of the Nobel Foundation. The product photo shows current CrystaLaser fiber-coupled lasers and is not an image from the cited papers.

Related pages: Blue lasers | Yellow lasers | Fiber-coupled lasers | Laser combiners
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