My first foray into the understanding of the time-evolution of Raman and Fluorescence was a Journal of Physical Chemistry paper (1) by office-mate Dr. Joseph Melinger and the late Professor A.C. Albrecht. The subject matter took me many months to digest to some level of understanding, whereas the realization I was in a group of incredibly smart people was instant.
Decades later, our partner Timegate Instruments released the worlds’ first integrated time-gated Raman spectrometer, the Timegate PicoRaman®, which has outstanding results in fluorescence suppression in applications such as:
• Pharma identification, quality assurance, and process control
• Mining quality assurance
• Mineral assessment
• Life science and imaging applications
The principle of the instrument is simply that if the source and electronics are fast enough, the Raman spectrum can be collected in the picosecond (10E-12 sec) regime, long before the nanosecond fluorescence (10E-9 second) occurs.
We are pleased to represent this break-through technology, making a complex experiment of fluorescence-free Raman spectroscopy ‘turn key’. You can learn more about the Timegate PicoRaman® here. It is gratifying that my 30 year journey of trying to understand time dynamics is now useful across a broad range of fields!
Reference
(1) Theory of light-induced defacing effects in resonance secondary radiation. J. S. Melinger and A.C. Albrecht J. Phys Chem. 91(11) 2704-2712 (1987)