Laser Induced Fluorescent Decay Spectra - A New Form of Environmental Signature

Abstract

Studies made of the temporal behaviour of laser-induced fluorescence as a function of emission wavelength for a variety of materials, such as crude oils, refined petroleum products, fish oils, and rock and mineral samples, lead us to believe that this information represents a new kind of spectral signature. The specificity of this "fluorescence decay spectrum" appears to be somewhat superior to that associated with the normal fluorescence spectrum. Several examples are presented to illustrate the improved identification capability of this new approach. We believe that a significant improvement to the ground truth evaluation capability of the new form of environmental probe currently under development, called a laser fluoresensor, might result from this advance.