R. Richardskortum et al., DESCRIPTION AND PERFORMANCE OF A FIBEROPTIC CONFOCAL FLUORESCENCE SPECTROMETER, Applied spectroscopy, 48(3), 1994, pp. 350-355
We describe a fiber-optic-based confocal fluorescence spectrometer for
obtaining depth-resolved, attenuated fluorescence emission spectra wi
th lateral resolution of several microns and depth resolution of tens
of microns. The confocal optics of the spectrometer are small, inexpen
sive, and easy to construct and to interface to existing spectrometers
. We compare the performance of this system to that of conventional fl
uorescence spectrometers for nonscattering homogeneous and inhomogeneo
us samples. We demonstrate that the confocal measurements readily prov
ide information about the sample geometry and optical properties not a
vailable from nonconfocal measurements. Potential applications of the
technique are discussed.