Advanced Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting Techniques

Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) is a remarkable technique for recording low-level light signals with extremely high precision and picosecond-time resolution. TCSPC has developed from an intrinsically time-consuming and one-dimensional technique into a fast, multi-dimensional technique to record light signals. So this reference and text describes how advanced TCSPC techniques work and demonstrates their application to time-resolved laser scanning microscopy, single molecule spectroscopy, photon correlation experiments, and diffuse optical tomography of biological tissue. It gives practical hints about constructing suitable optical systems, choosing and using detectors, detector safety, preamplifiers, and using the control features and optimising the operating conditions of TCSPC devices. Advanced TCSPC Techniques is an indispensable tool for everyone in research and development who is confronted with the task of recording low-intensity light signals in the picosecond and nanosecond range. The monograph by Dr Wolfgang Becker is a complete and lucid summary of both the basic principles and the state-of-the-art of TCSPC. This book contains descriptions that are only available from the primary literature or specialized web sites. An understanding of the present technology will allow the reader to make effective use of the multi-dimensional capabilities of modern time-resolved fluorescence instruments. Joseph R. Lakowicz, Center for Fluorescence Spectroscopy, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore,