Comparison of fluorescence excitation modes for CdSe semi-conductor quantum dots used in medical research

Abstract

Fluorescence spectroscopy is a powerful tool used in applied biological and medical research. Colloid semi-conductor quantum dots are promising fluorescent tags for simultaneous detection of different biopathogens. The techniques employing these tags can be improved by selecting the optimal modes for signal excitation and detection. The aim of the present work was to derive a mathematical expression to describe the signal-to-noise ratios in the pulsed and modulated excitation modes. Below, we compare these two modes of fluorescence excitation in ultralow quantities of quantum dots. We demonstrate that modulated excitation should be preferred for CdSe/ZnS quantum dots given that signal accumulation time is over 100 mc and the photosensor is exposed to background light of > 1 µW.