On-the-fly decoding luminescence lifetimes in the microsecond region for lanthanide-encoded suspension arrays

Yiqing Lu, Jie Lu, Jiangbo Zhao, Janet Cusido, Françisco M. Raymo, Jingli Yuan, Sean Yang, Robert C. Leif, Yujing Huo, James A. Piper, J. Paul Robinson, Ewa M. Goldys, Dayong Jin*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

148 Citations (Scopus)
112 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Significant multiplexing capacity of optical time-domain coding has been recently demonstrated by tuning luminescence lifetimes of the upconversion nanoparticles called 'τ-Dots'. It provides a large dynamic range of lifetimes from microseconds to milliseconds, which allows creating large libraries of nanotags/microcarriers. However, a robust approach is required to rapidly and accurately measure the luminescence lifetimes from the relatively slow-decaying signals. Here we show a fast algorithm suitable for the microsecond region with precision closely approaching the theoretical limit and compatible with the rapid scanning cytometry technique.We exploit this approach to further extend optical time-domain multiplexing to the downconversion luminescence, using luminescence microspheres wherein lifetimes are tuned through luminescence resonance energy transfer.We demonstrate real-time discrimination of these microspheres in the rapid scanning cytometry, and apply them to the multiplexed probing of pathogen DNA strands. Our results indicate that tunable luminescence lifetimes have considerable potential in high-throughput analytical sciences.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3741
Pages (from-to)1-8
Number of pages8
JournalNature Communications
Volume5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 May 2014

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2014. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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