PicoQuant MultiHarp 150 - Time-Resolved Excitation and Emission Spectra

PicoQuantGmbH MultiHarpSoftwareV.3.1.0.0
5.4. Time–Resolved Excitation and Emission Spectra
Intime-resolvedfluorescenceresearchitisoftenofinteresttoobservetime-dependentspectralshiftsandde-
caychangesinthecontextofsolventrelaxationdynamicsandgeneralspectralevolution.Thisrequiresrecord-
ingTime-ResolvedExcitation/EmissionSpectra(TRES),ideallywithautomatedwavelengthscanandTCSPC
datacollectionunderfullsoftwarecontrol.
Inordertomeasurespectraincombinationwithfluorescencelifetime,theMultiHarpsoftwareprovidesanauto-
matedTRESmeasurementmode.Thismodeallowstocontrolamonochromatorviaasteppermotorandauto-
matedcollectionofspectrallyresolvedlifetimehistograms.Dataiscollectedasinstandard“IntegrationMode”
andsavedindifferentblocksofmemoryforeachwavelength.Note,however,thatTRESdataisalwayscol-
lectedthroughinputchannel1only.
Ifamonochromatorwithappropriatesteppermotorandassociateddriversisinstalled,aspecial-
izeddynamiclinklibrary(Mono.dll)canbeinstalledtogetherwiththeMultiHarpsoftware.Thepres-
enceofthisDLLwillbedetectedbythesoftware.InthiscasethebuttonforMonochromatorand
TREScontrolonthetoolbarwillbeenabled.
Notethatmostofthemonochromatorscanbecontrolledonlythroughdedicatedsteppermotorhardwarefrom
PicoQuantorselectedvendors,usuallyinstalledaspartofacompletePicoQuantspectrometer.Customconfig-
urationscanonlybesupporteduponspecialrequest.
ClickingthemonochromatorbuttonwilllaunchthedialogformanualmonochromatorcontrolandTRESsetup.
Thereyoucansetupparameterssuchasthestart,step,andendofthewavelengthscan.Therewillbeerror
messagesifthemonochromator/stepperandassociateddriversarenotconfiguredproperly.
ThemonochromatorusedforTRESmeasurementsiscontrolledthroughaspecialdialog.Itshowsthreetabsat
thetopandastatuspanelatthebottomofthedialog.ThethreetabsgiveaccesstotheManual,TRES,andIni-
tializationpagesofthedialog.
Thestatuspanelshowsthecurrentmonochromatorpositioninnmandwhetherthemonochromatoriscurrently
moving(thered"LED"labeledSteppingisflashing,whenitmoves).
Thedialogis"nonmodal",i.e.itdoesnotneedtobeclosedbeforeotherwindowscanbeaccessed.Ithasits
owniconintheWindowsTaskbar,fromwhereitcanbebroughtbacktothetop,shouldithavebeencoveredby
otherwindows.
Monochromator Models
Thetypeofthecurrentmonochromatorisdisplayedinthetitlebarofthedialog.Apartfromasimulationmode,
thefollowingmonochromatormodelsaresupported:SciencetechST–9030,ST–9030DSandST–9055,Acton
ResearchSP–2150,SP–2155,SP–150andSP–275.SomeotherActonResearchmodelsarepartiallysup-
ported.Notethatsomemonochromatorscanonlybecontrolledthroughdedicatedsteppermotorhardwarefrom
PicoQuantorthemonochromatorsupplier.UsuallytheseareinstalledaspartofacompletePicoQuantspec-
trometer.PleasecontactPicoQuantfordetails.Notealsothattherearemorerecentandsuperiorspectrometer
solutionsfromPicoQuant.MonochromatorsupportfortheMultiHarpsoftwareisprovidedforbackwardscom-
patibilityonlyandmostlikelygoingtobephasedoutsoon.
Ifyoursystemisnotconfiguredforusewithamonochromator,theMonochromator/TRESdialogwilldisplay
thecaptionSimulation.Thisisfordemonstrationpurposesonly.Itwillworkthesamewayasthe"real"ST–9030
monochromatordescribedbelow,exceptthatafterpressingtheInitializebutton,youwillbepromptedtodecide
whethertheinitializationshouldbesuccessfulornot.Tocontinuewiththedemonstration,pressYes.Ofcourse
thesimulatedmonochromatormovementswillnothaveanyeffectonthemeasuredTCSPChistograms.
Page53