Formulation of a dimensionless overlap fraction to account for spectrally distributed interactions in fluorescence studies

Abstract

An overlap term is used in fluorescence theory to account for the spectrally distributed interaction between laser radiation and molecular transitions. We present a dimensionless overlap fraction formulation. Compared with the more common dimensional overlap term [in units of inverse wave number (1/cm(-1))], this form of expression of the interaction between a laser and an absorption transition has a much more practical interpretation and simplifies the equations that describe fluorescence measurements.