Optimized gating scheme for rapid lifetime determinations of single-exponential luminescence lifetimes

The rapid lifetime method (RLD) for determining excited-state lifetimes use s the ratio of the areas under two regions of the decay. To get good precis ion with the standard method, prior knowledge of the lifetime is essential to selecting the integration regions. As will be shown, the usual method of selecting integration regions is far from optimal. An optimal gating schem e that is more precise and much more forgiving in the selection of integrat ion region than any of the prior methods will be shown. Monte Carlo simulat ions were performed to determine the optimal gating. Experimental data was used to confirm the capabilities of the optimized RLD. The speed of the opt imal RLD is similar to the standard RLD but without the necessity of matchi ng the integration interval to the lifetime for precise results.