In situ determination of fluorescence lifetimes via inverse Raman scattering

A novel pump-probe technique to determine fluorescence lifetimes in the femtosecond regime is presented. The technique is based on the inverse Raman process. The fluorescence intensity of a fluorophore at the time of the probing process is monitored at the anti-Stokes frequency (with respect to the probe frequency) of a Raman active mode of the solvent. When the fluorescence light and probe pulse overlap in time a reduction of the fluorescence intensity is observed. The reduction changes with the pump-probe delay and yields the (single-wavelength) fluorescence decay profile. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.