Low-cost gated system for monitoring phosphorescence lifetimes

A low-cost, gated system for measurements of phosphorescence lifetimes is presented. An extensive description of the system operating principles and metrological characteristics is given. Remarkably, the system operates without optical filtering of the light emitting diode excitation source. A description of a practical system is also given and its performance is discussed. Because the device effectively suppresses high-level background fluorescence and scattered light, it is expected to find widespread application in bioprocess, environmental, and biomedical fields. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.