Subnanosecond laser fluorometer with compact nitrogen laser pumped dye laser for lifetime measurements.

Abstract

A small atmospheric pressure nitrogen laser was constructed. This laser produced 20 μJ pulses at 337.1 nm and had performances of pulse widths of 660 ps and a maximum repetition rate of 80 Hz. Lifetime measurements of nanosecond fluorescence decay were demonstrated by using the fluorometric system consisting of a nitrogen laser pumped dye laser(<250 ps FWHM) and a fast microchannel plate photomultiplier. The time resolution of the system was 630 ps. The lifetimes of acridine, perylene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, and benzo(a)pyrene were determined to be 1.0, 6, 12, and 35 ns without any deconvolution procedure. The lifetime measurement could be carried out at a concentration of 3 × 10-10 M.