LUMINESCENCE DETECTION

摘要

A method of luminescence detection comprises: 1) effecting excitation of a label by absorption of one or more photons of the same or different energy, at least one of which is of visible or ultraviolet light, such that (i) the excitation leads to the population of one or more transient excited states having a lifetime greater than one microsecond but less than one minute, and (ii) the or at least one of the excited states is capable of detection directly of indirectly by luminescence; 2) effecting a perturbation to induce a transient change in the population of the or at least one of the excited states; and 3) detecting the fluctuation or fluctuations in concentration of the said excited state or states which result from said perturbation either directly by virtue of the luminescence of the said excited state or states or indirectly by observation of the luminescence of one or more other species to which excitation energy has been transferred.