Frequency-domain light detection device
First Claim
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1. A method for measuring a temporal property of a luminescent sample, the method comprising:
- illuminating the sample with intensity-modulated incident light, where the modulation is characterized by a characteristic time;
detecting luminescence emitted from the sample in response to the illumination with incident light;
counting the number of photons in the detected luminescence during a preselected portion of the characteristic time;
computing a frequency-domain quantity based on the number of counted photons; and
determining the temporal property based on the frequency-domain quantity.
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Abstract
Apparatus and methods for determining temporal properties of photoluminescent samples using frequency-domain photoluminescence measurements, where the measurements may include photon counting and/or the separation of measured luminescence into potentially overlapping time bins.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method for measuring a temporal property of a luminescent sample, the method comprising:
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illuminating the sample with intensity-modulated incident light, where the modulation is characterized by a characteristic time;
detecting luminescence emitted from the sample in response to the illumination with incident light;
counting the number of photons in the detected luminescence during a preselected portion of the characteristic time;
computing a frequency-domain quantity based on the number of counted photons; and
determining the temporal property based on the frequency-domain quantity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
counting the number of photons in the detected luminescence during a second preselected portion of the characteristic time, where the first and second portions correspond to at least partially different portions of the characteristic time.
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11. The method of claim 10, where the first and second portions overlap.
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12. The method of claim 10, where the first and second portions do not overlap.
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13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
counting the number of photons in the detected luminescence during additional preselected portions of the characteristic time, where the total number of portions is an integer power of two.
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14. The method of claim 1, where the step of counting the number of photons includes the steps of converting the detected luminescence to a signal, and discriminating photons from noise based on their relative contributions to the signal.
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15. The method of claim 1, where the frequency-domain quantity is a phase shift and/or a demodulation of the detected luminescence relative to the incident light.
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16. The method of claim 1, where the step of determining the temporal property includes the step of correcting for intensity variations in the light source.
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17. The method of claim 1, where the step of determining the temporal property includes the step of correcting for instrumental factors.
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18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
repeating the steps of illuminating, detecting, and counting with the same sample before determining the temporal property, where the number of counted photons used to compute the frequency-domain quantity is the sum of the number of photons counted in each repetition of illuminating and detecting.
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19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
automatically repeating the steps of illuminating, detecting, counting, and determining the temporal property with a series of samples.
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20. An apparatus for measuring a temporal property of a luminescent sample, the apparatus comprising:
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a light source for producing intensity-modulated excitation light;
an excitation optical relay structure that directs the intensity-modulated excitation light toward the sample, so that the sample may be induced to emit intensity-modulated emission light;
a detector for detecting light;
an emission optical relay structure that directs light from the sample toward the detector, so that intensity-modulated emission light from the sample may be detected; and
a discrete analyzer operatively connected to the detector, where the analyzer includes a counter that determines the number of photons in the detected emission light, and where the analyzer determines the temporal property based on a frequency-domain quantity computed from the number of photons. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for measuring a temporal property of a luminescent sample, the method comprising:
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illuminating the sample with intensity-modulated incident light capable of exciting luminescence in the sample, where the modulation of the intensity-modulated light is characterized by a characteristic time;
measuring luminescence emitted from the sample during first and second preselected portions of the characteristic time, where the first and second portions overlap; and
determining the temporal property based on the measured luminescence during the first and second portions. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
measuring luminescence emitted from the sample during additional preselected portions of the characteristic time, where the total number of portions is an integer power of two.
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33. An apparatus for measuring a temporal property of a luminescent sample, the apparatus comprising:
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a light source for producing intensity-modulated excitation light;
an excitation optical relay structure that directs the intensity-modulated excitation light toward the sample, so that the sample may be induced to emit intensity-modulated emission light;
a detector for detecting light;
an emission optical relay structure that directs light from the sample toward the detector, so that intensity-modulated emission light from the sample may be detected; and
a discrete analyzer operatively connected to the detector, where the analyzer is configured to measure light emitted from the sample during overlapping intervals and to determine the temporal property based on the measured light. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
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Specification