Development of windows based software to analyze fluorescence decay with time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) setup

A VUV spectroscopic facility for studies in photophysics and photochemistry is being set up at INDUS-I synchrotron source, CAT, Indore. For this purpose, a data acquisition system based on time-correlated single photon counting method is being developed for fluorescence lifetime measurement. To estimate fluorescence lifetime from the data collected with this sytem, a Windows based program has been developed using Visual Basic 5.0. It uses instrument response function (IRF) and observed decay curve and estimates parameters of single exponential decay by least square analysis and Marquardt method as convergence mechanism. Estimation of parameters was performed using data collected with a commercial setup. Goodness of fit was judged by evaluating chi R sup 2 , weighted residuals and autocorrelation function. Performance is compared with two commercial software packages and found to be satisfactory.