Abstract.
Measurements of fluorescence lifetimes are needed to quantify concentration measurements when using linear laser-induced fluorescence. However, lifetimes are only a few nanoseconds for many important species at atmospheric pressure. When using a typical Q-switched laser with a pulse width of about 10 ns, the fluorescence follows the shape of the laser pulse and the lifetime cannot be easily measured. In this paper, a technique is described for experimentally determining the fluorescence lifetime in atmospheric-pressure flames using a nanosecond-pulsed laser; that is, measurement of a lifetime an order-of-magnitude faster than the laser pulse itself. This technique relies on an observable temporal shift in the fluorescence signal as a function of the lifetime. Simulations show the efficacy of this approach, and data in liquid samples and in an atmospheric-pressure flame show excellent agreement with prior picosecond measurements. This technique is successful because only the temporal shift is examined and details of the fluorescence profile are ignored.
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Received: 23 August 2001 / Revised version: 19 November 2001 / Published online: 17 January 2002
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Renfro, M. Fluorescence-lifetime measurements in atmospheric-pressure flames using nanosecond-pulsed lasers . Appl Phys B 74, 167–174 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003400100785
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s003400100785