Effects of Cascading Optical Processes: Part III. Impacts on Spectroscopic Measurements of Fluorescent Samples

Cascading optical processes involve sequential photon-matter interactions triggered by the same individual excitation photons. Parts I and II of this series explored cascading optical processes in scattering-only solutions (Part I) and solutions with light scatterers and absorbers but no emitters (Part II). The current work (Part III) focuses on the effects of cascading optical processes on spectroscopic measurements of fluorescent samples. Four types of samples were examined: (1) eosin Y (EOY), an absorber and emitter; (2) EOY mixed with plain polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNPs), which are pure scatterers; (3) EOY mixed with dyed PSNPs, which scatter and absorb light but do not emit; and (4) fluorescent PSNPs that are simultaneous light absorbers, scatterers, and emitters. Interference from both forward scattered and emitted photons can cause nonlinearity and spectral distortion in UV-vis extinction measurements. Sample absorption by nonfluorogenic chromophores reduces fluorescence intensity, while the effect of scattering on fluorophore fluorescence is complicated by several competing factors. A revised first-principles model is developed for correlating the experimental fluorescence intensity with the sample absorbance in solutions containing both scatterers and absorbers. The optical properties of fluorescent PSNPs of three different sizes were systematically investigated by using integrating-sphere-assisted resonance synchronous spectroscopy, linearly polarized resonance synchronous spectroscopy, UV-vis, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The insights and methodology provided in this work should help improve the reliability of spectroscopic analyses of fluorescent samples, where the interplay among light absorption, scattering, and emission can be complex.