Test and Measurement Forum

Hello,

we want to make time resolved photoluminescence measurements of various dyes as a student experiment. For this we need a PC oscilloscope with a time resolution of about 0.5 ns to read the signal of a fast photo diode. The dye is excited by a pulsed laser with a repetition rate of 20 kHz and the luminescence has a decay time of several ns.

Since it is a student experiment, the price must not exceed 1000€. Is the 3204 oscilloscope suitable for this application?

Thanks

Jan Richters

Hi and thank you for your post. To get 0.5ns a scope would be running at 2GS/s , the 3204 runs at 200MS/s so that is not achievable the best you can achieve would be 5ns in standard scope mode.

You say the a luminescence has a decay time of several ns is this why you want to sample at 0.5ns? If so then this is not possible. Our flagship model would at best achieve a time interval of 1ns (the 5203 or the 5204 that is).

Let me know if you require further assistance

Thanks for your fast answer,

I was wondering wether the 3204 is suitable because your specifications say that the sampling rate of the 3204 for repetitive signals is 2.5 GS/s. By using a pulsed laser we will get a repetitive photoluminescence signal.

We need such a high sample rate, because the signal vanishes after a few ns and for fitting purpose we simply need some data points.

Thanks,
Jan Richters

Hi,

ETS only works if the signal you are measuring is stable and repetitive, since this mode works by building up the waveform from successive acquisitions.

Kind regards