Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging for Academia and Industry

Fluorescence imaging provides selective contrast in many applications and most of them can gain deeper insights by considering the fluorescence emission statistics – the fluorescence lifetime – as well. Since the fluorescence lifetimes of fluorophores depend on their excited state lifetimes and other available non-radiative decay channels, fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) probes the molecular environment of the fluorophore as well.

While intensity-based fluorescence imaging relies on the spectral separability of different fluorescent markers, fluorescence lifetime measurements can distinguish between different states the individual fluorophore can be in. From molecular rulers in time resolved FRET to microcrack detection in industrial inspection, considering the fluorescence lifetime provides deeper insight into the interactions taking place. As is to be expected, acquiring more information goes along with more involved data analysis as well.

This talk aims to provide insight into the world of FLIM by highlighting multiple applications of the technique and the challenges and technological considerations one needs to address, both in academia and in industry.

About the presenter
Julius Heitz, Ph.D., studied physics at Heriot-Watt University and received a doctorate from the Free University of Berlin and the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society. For his doctorate, Heitz studied spintronic effects in solid-state samples with high-field terahertz radiation sources, gaining a strong basis in nonlinear optics and femtosecond laser physics along the way. He is currently an applications specialist at Becker & Hickl GmbH, with a focus on R&D and customer support, working with time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC). In his free time, he rides motorcycles and enjoys the outdoors.