Rapid time-resolved Circular Polarization Luminescence (CPL) emission spectroscopy

Circular polarisation luminescence (CPL) emission spectroscopy is a powerful tool for probing the fundamental chiroptical features of optically emissive chiral molecular systems. However, uptake of CPL spectroscopy has been impeded by the limitations of conventional scanning monochromator (SM) CPL spectrometers, which are costly to acquire and maintain, and typically require tens of minutes to acquire a typical CPL spectrum. Here, we demonstrate a design of CPL spectrometer which uses rapid readout solid state (SS) spectrometer detectors and a dual channel optical layout to acquire CPL spectra in as little as 10 milliseconds. We validate and demonstrate equivalent CPL measurement by measuring CPL spectra of two reference europium(III) complexes. Further, we demonstrate time-gated CPL acquisition, enabling long-lived CPL luminescence to be distinguished from short-lived emission of other fluorescent species. We anticipate that SS-CPL spectrometers will enable flexible, rapid, and relatively low-cost CPL spectroscopy for diverse applications.