Time gated Fourier transform spectroscopy as a technique for disentangling short- and long-lived luminescence

Abstract

Overlapping short- and long-lived luminescence signals are often encountered and are not trivial to disentangle in a single measurement. Here, we demonstrate for a broad range of emitters that time gated Fourier transform spectroscopy can be used as a technique to simultaneously capture and temporally disentangle overlapping spectral features of luminescence signals. This allows us to concurrently measure the fluorescence and phosphorescence bands of an organic fluorophore, retrieve the emission of a quantum dot that is overshadowed by an autofluorescent serum solution, and for removing residual laser scatter and ambient room light in an optical filter free configuration. Time gated Fourier transform spectroscopy only requires the introduction of a common-path interferometer to the emission path of a standard time-correlated single photon counting setup; it can function as a technique to both discriminate signals as well as characterize properties of new materials.