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A fast time-domain based fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) microscope is presented that can operate at frame rates of hundreds of frames per second. A beam splitter in the detection path of a wide-field fluorescence microscope divides the fluorescence in two parts. One part is optically delayed with respect to the other. Both parts are viewed with a single time-gated intensified CCD camera with a gate width of 5 ns. The fluorescence lifetime image is obtained from the ratio of these two images. The fluorescence lifetime resolution of the FLIM microscope is verified both with dye solutions and fluorescent latex beads. The fluorescence lifetimes obtained from the reference specimens are in good agreement with values obtained from time correlated single photon counting measurements on the same specimens. The acquisition speed of the FLIM system is evaluated with a measurement of the calcium fluxes in neonatal rat myocytes stained with the calcium probe Oregon Green 488-Bapta. Fluorescence lifetime images of the calcium fluxes related to the beating of the myocytes are acquired with frame rates of up to 100 Hz.

The combined analysis of spectral and lifetime images has the potential to provide more accurate and more detailed information about Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). We have developed a novel FRET analysis method to analyze images recorded by multispectral lifetime imaging. The new method is based on a phasor approach and facilitates the simultaneous analysis of decay kinetics of donor and acceptor molecules. The method is applicable to both molecules that exhibit a mono-exponential decay and a bi-exponential decay. As an example we show the possibility of extracting the energy transfer efficiency and the fraction of interacting molecules even in the presence of non-interacting molecules. The reliability of the method is investigated by comparing it with conventional FRET-FLIM analyses. We show that, with the same number of detected photons, the spectrally resolved phasor approach provides higher accuracy than other analysis methods; the confidence interval is improved and the FRET efficiency is closer to the real value.

Dynamical control of the luminescence of quantum dots is highly important for technology in the field of telecommunication, displays, and photovoltaics. In this work we use an a-Si:H solar cell structure in which CdSe quantum dots are sandwiched. By applying a positive potential over the device, charge carriers generated in the quantum dots are transported to the a-Si:H layer and transformed into electrical energy, changing the luminescence intensity with a switching time lower than 60 ms. This is a promising new step towards using quantum dots in optical switching devices.

A multichannel X-ray detector with a spatial resolution of 0.13 mm and a maximum of 200 effective channels is described. The detector consists of a conversion electrode to convert X-rays into electrons, a microchannelplate phosphor screen assembly to amplify the electron signal, a self-scanning array containing 1024 photodiodes and optics to form an image from the phosphor screen on the self-scanning array. A magnetic field is used to form an image of the electrons from the conversion electrode on the channelplate. The resolution of the detector is determined by the magnetic imaging system and the channelplate/phosphor-screen assembly.