Time-correlated single photon counting detectors

T. A. Louis, G. Ripamonti and A. Lacaita, Photoluminescence lifetime microscope spectrometer based on time-correlated single-photon counting with an avalanche diode detector, Rev. Sci Instrum. 61, 11-22(1990). 

In the time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) technique, the sample is excited with a pulsed light source. The light source, optics, and detector are adjusted so that, for a given sample, no more than one photon is detected. When the source is pulsed, a timer is started. When a photon reaches the detector, the time is measured. Over the course of the... 

Time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSP) has proven to be a much-used method for measuring fluorescence lifetimes. It is highly sensitive in that it requires only one photon to be incident on the detector per excitation cycle, and statistical analysis of the experimental data gives lifetimes with well-defined error limits. Commercial systems are available which allow lifetimes from 50 ps to many tens of nanoseconds to be measured with relative ease and high precision. 

When the experimental system emits light after the initial pumping pulse, quite different techniques can be used to obtain a time-resolved spectrum of the sample emission. The simplest of these is time-correlated single photon counting. The time resolution of this technique is limited by the design of the photon detectors. Two other methods used in emission spectroscopy are the streak camera and... 

Time-resolved fluorimetry is also useful for the elimination of interferences from stray light due to Rayleigh and Raman scatter. The latter phenomena occur on a time scale of l(r14-l(T13 s and, as they have a much shorter duration than lamp or laser pulses, the light associated with them can be eliminated from the signal that ultimately reaches the detector. Time-correlated single-photon counting is superior in its ability to resolve multiple fluorescence from the same solution. 

Principle used in multidimensional time-correlated single photon counting. Each photon is routed into different memory blocks according to a control signal read synchronously with its detection. Routing is used to record photons detected by several detectors, to multiplex the measurement at different excitation wavelengths or sample positions, or to classify the photons according to an externally measured parameter. 

In time-correlated single photon counting Loss of a additional photons detected after the first photon within one same signal period. Pile-up causes distortion of the signal shape and loss in the number of detected events. In high-energy particle detection Detection of several particles within the response of a scintillator, detector and subsequent amplifier. Pile-up causes distortion in the measured energy distribution and loss in the number of detected particles. 

For fluorescence measurements, by far the most versatile and widely used time-resolved emission technique involves time-correlated single-photon counting [8] in conjunction with mode-locked lasers, a typical mo m apparatus being shown in Figure 15.8. The instrument response time of such an apparatus with microchannel plate detectors is of the order of 70 ps, giving an ultimate capability of measurement of decay times in the region of 7 ps. However, it is the phenomenal sensitivity and accuracy which are the main attractive features of the technique, which is widely used for time-resolved fluorescence decay, time-resolved emission spectra, and time-resolved anisotropy measurements. Below ate described three applkations of such time-resolved measurements on synthetic polymers, derived from recent work by the author s group. 

A block diagram of a time correlated single photon counting apparatus is shown in Fig. 7.8 there is the housing of a pulsed light source directly connected to a light detector (called start photomultiplier, start PMT), an optional (exciting)... 

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