SBIR Phase I: Multi-Channel Fluorescence Lifetime Measuring Instrument Using a Novel Low-Cost Digitizer

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目涉及使用新型低成本数字转换器开发多通道荧光寿命测量仪。将众所周知的荧光寿命测量的实用性带给大众的关键是拥有一台速度和精度都很好的低成本仪器。这项工作将开创一种测量技术，利用激光的最新发展，在很大程度上满足这样一种仪器的需求。然而，有一个至关重要的部件，即目前占成本一半以上的数字转换器。商业上可用的数字转换器与应用程序的需求不匹配，因此过于昂贵或缺乏必要的功能。然而，这项工作发现了一个独特的定制ASIC，似乎是一个很好的匹配。这个ASIC是伯克利国家实验室为阿曼达中微子望远镜开发的波形数字化仪。本工作将利用该专用集成电路作为数字转换器，对一台多通道荧光寿命测量仪进行样机和特性测试。如果第一阶段目标得以实现，这项工作将能够建造特别负担得起的仪器，使荧光寿命测量在广泛的应用中得以实现并大大扩大使用。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project concerns the development of a multi-channel fluorescence lifetime measuring instrument using a novel low-cost digitizer. The key to bringing the well-known utility of fluorescence lifetime measurements "to the masses" is to have a low-cost instrument with excellent speed and accuracy. This work will pioneer a measuring technique that, by taking advantage of recent developments in lasers, goes a long way toward meeting the needs of such an instrument. However, there is one vital component, the digitizer that presently accounts for more than half of the cost.Commercially available digitizers do not match the needs of the application and are therefore too expensive or lack essential capabilities. However, This work has found a unique custom ASIC that appears to be a good match. This ASIC is a waveform digitizer developed at Berkeley National Laboratory for the AMANDA neutrino telescope. This work will prototype and characterizes a multi-channel fluorescence lifetime measuring instrument that uses this ASIC as the digitizer. If the phase I objectives are achieved, this work will be able to build exceptionally affordable instruments that can enable and greatly expand the use of fluorescence lifetime measurements in a vast range of applications.