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Copyright 2000 by ASME
Figure 1: Fluorescence principle
(Haugland, R. P., 1999)
From this description it is apparent that LIF can be used to
measure any scalar that affects the fluorescence of the dye.
Fluorescence is a function of the dye characteristics, the dye
concentration, the exciting light intensity, and the scalar being
measured. Once a particular dye and concentration are
selected, the fluorescence dependence on these factors is
constant. The problem lies in the irregularity of the illumination
light intensity when a laser is used. Most laser beams are not
uniform. They fluctuate in intensity in space and time. Pulsed
Nd:YAG lasers are particularly prone to exhibit this behavior.
Use of pulsed Nd:YAG lasers is desirable though, because of
their short pulse duration (consequently short fluorescence
emission), which allows for nearly instantaneous measurements
of the desired scalar.
In order to correlate two-dimensional fluorescence intensity
to the scalar of interest, spatial variations in illumination
intensity must be determined. This can be accomplished by
using a ratiometric technique where the fluorescence intensity
containing the desired scalar information is divided by the laser
intensity eliminating the fluorescence dependency on excitation
intensity. One way to achieve this is by using two fluorescent
dyes. This technique is known as Dual Emission Laser Induced
Fluorescence (DELIF) (Coppeta, J., Rogers, C., 1998, Coppeta,
J., et. al., 1997, Sakakibara, J., Adrian, R. J., 1999).
NOMENCLATURE
A
area of one pixel
C
dye molar concentration, effective two-dye molar
concentration
C
1
dye 1 molar concentration
C
2
dye 2 molar concentration
dI
f
differential fluorescence intensity
dI
f,1
dye 1 differential fluorescence intensity, without
reabsorption
dI
f,1
’
dye 1 differential fluorescence intensity, with
reabsorption
dx
differential length in x-direction
F
fluorescence power
I
e
I
f
I
f,1
I
f,1
’
I
f,2
I
o
t
T
x
y
V
ε
(
λ
)
exciting light intensity
total fluorescence intensity
dye 1 total fluorescence intensity, without reabsorption
dye 1 total fluorescence intensity, with reabsorption
dye 2 total fluorescence intensity
exciting light intensity at x=0
film thickness
temperature
coordinate perpendicular to plane of observation
coordinate parallel to plane of observation
volume element
molar absorption (extinction) coefficient at a given
wavelength (absorption spectrum); effective two-dye
molar absorption (extinction) coefficient
dye 1 molar absorption (extinction) coefficient at a
given wavelength (absorption spectrum)
dye 2 molar absorption (extinction) coefficient at a
given wavelength (absorption spectrum)
quantum efficiency
dye 1 quantum efficiency
dye 2 quantum efficiency
dye 1 relative emission at a given wavelength
(emission spectrum)
dye 2 relative emission at a given wavelength
(emission spectrum)
laser wavelength
narrow band filter 1 wavelength
narrow band filter 2 wavelength
time
ε
1
(
λ
)
ε
2
(
λ
)
Φ
Φ
1
Φ
2
η
1
(
λ
)
η
2
(
λ
)
λ
laser
λ
filter1
λ
filter2
τ
LIF BASICS
Optically Thin versus Optically Thick
Consider a rectangular differential volume of fluid mixed
with a fluorescent dye with cross-sectional area
A
and length
x
irradiated by light (normal to the area
A)
with uniform intensity
I
e
(see figure 2). The total fluorescence,
F
, emitted by this
differential volume is given by:
V
C
)
I
F
laser
e
=
)
Figure 2: Fluorescence of fluid element