A fiber-optic based flow cytometry platform was designed to build a portable and robust instrument for space applications. At the core of the Microflow1 is a unique fiber-optic flow cell fitted to a fluidic system and fiber coupled to the source and detection channels. A Microflow1 engineering unit was first tested and benchmarked against a commercial flow cytometer as a reference in a standard laboratory environment. Testing in parabolic flight campaigns was performed to establish Microflow1's performance in weightlessness, before operating the new platform on the International Space Station. Microflow1 had comparable performances to commercial systems, and operated remarkably and robustly in weightlessness (microgravity). Microflow1 supported immunophenotyping as well as microbead-based multiplexed cytokine assays in the space environment and independently of gravity levels. Results presented here provide evidence that this fiber-optic cytometer technology is inherently compatible with the space environment with negligible compromise to analytical performance. Published by Wiley-Periodicals, Inc. V C 2013 Government of Canada

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The origin of the polarization of the photoluminescence in ordered InGaP is investigated. The ordering induced lowering of the cubic crystal symmetry is caused by a superlattice and/or strain effects in two of the four 〈111〉 crystal directions resulting in a splitting of the heavy-hole and light-hole valence bands. Using simple arguments from k⋅p theory, the difference in photon energy as well as the intensity ratio of the luminescence in the two polarization directions along the cleavage facets is explained as a function of temperature.

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