A time-correlated photon counting system for measurement of pulsed optically stimulated luminescence

A versatile light-emitting-diode system for measurement of time-resolved luminescence spectra is described. The instrument is an improvement on a previously reported version [1] also based on pulsed light-emitting diodes. The present configuration offers substantially improved performance in measurement of time-resolved optically stimulated luminescence spectra and records the luminescence with better dynamic throughput. Measurements made on sedimentary quartz annealed at 800 °C as an exemplar show that the luminescence obtained after the light pulse as a proportion of the total measured signal falls within the usable dynamic range of 0.1-98% for pulse-widths between 3 and 198μs, a range of pulse-widths and so luminescence yield that is sufficient for most contemporary applications of time-resolved optically stimulated luminescence.