DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS AND PERFORMANCE OF A SPECTRO-STREAK APPARATUS APPLYING A PLANAR LIGA MICROSPECTROMETER FOR TIME-RESOLVED ULTRAFAST FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY

Results of a pilot study with a spectro-streak apparatus applying a gr ating microspectrometer with a self-focusing reflection grating are re ported. The microspectrometer chip (dimensions: 17X6.4 mm(2); 125 mu m effective thickness of the three-layer x-ray resist system), fabricat ed with the versatile LIGA technique, has been adapted to a picosecond streak camera. Performance tests have been carried out with a fluores cent probe exhibiting a dynamic Stokes shift of the exciplex fluoresce nce band due to solvation of the charge transfer dipole within about 4 00 ps. The use of a LIGA microspectrometer in ultrafast spectroscopy p roved to be of advantage in time-resolved studies of complex luminesce nce spectra where a moderate spectral resolution is required and a lar ge spectral range must be covered. (C) 1996 American Institute of Phys ics.