Fluorescence lifetime measurement excited with ultraviolet surface plasmon resonance

We present an application of surface plasmon resonance in the ultraviolet region (UV-SPR) to lifetime measurement of fluorescent materials. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has been used to enhance fluorescence intensity and UV-SPR is important in the analysis of organic and biomolecules, including proteins and DNA, because UV light can excite many kinds of fluorescent dyes simultaneously or autofluorescence of biological specimens without any stain process. We obtained 16 times improvement of signal-to-noise ratio in lifetime measurement. We demonstrated the fluorescence lifetime of anthracene and CdSe/ZnS quantum dots using UV-SPR. The shortened fluorescence lifetime excited with UV-SPR compare to lifetime exited without SPR was analyzed.