Fluorescence lifetime measurements using a novel fiber-optic laser scanning confocal microscope

Abstract

The novel design of a fiber-optic laser scanning confocal microscope is described. The optical fiber acts as a flexible light path for both the excitation and return beams and as the confocal pinhole of the microscope. The system is capable of imaging both reflective and fluorescent objects and offers considerable adaptability in use. With a mode-locked dye laser excitation source, avalanche photodiode detector and time-correlated photon counting electronics, spatially resolved fluorescence decay profiles from fluorescent dyes in solution and polymer films have been recorded.