Time-resolved light decay measurements without using a gated detector

摘要

The present invention relates to the measurement of the time dependence of light emitted by a material after it is excited by a light or electric pulse. An embodiment of this invention utilizes a CCD camera and a mask with slits for time resolved spectroscopy of fluorescent materials illuminated with a light pulse. By converting a slit in space to a gate in time, the whole decay curve of the fluorescence may be obtained with a single material-exciting light pulse. The systems and methods of the present invention are particularly suitable for DNA and protein study.