Investigating up-conversion fluorescence of Phloxine B

The steady-state and time-resolved emission of Phloxine B was examined when excited with 90 fs pulses from a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser. Above the excitation wavelength (775 nm), Phloxine B was found to display two-photon excitation fluorescence with estimated cross-section for excitation of 0.87/spl times/10/sup -49/ cm/sup 4/ s/photon, and fluorescence spectrum consistent with one-photon excitation. Over the excitation wavelength range from 590 to 650 nm, Phloxine B was found to display one-photon excitation up-conversion fluorescence. The up-conversion fluorescence of Phloxine B was confirmed by frequency-domain measurements. The intensity decays revealed different double-exponential intensity decays for one-photon excitation at 390 nm and 633 nm. The longer fluorescence lifetimes were observed with 633 nm excitation. Hence, anti-Stokes excitation of Phloxine B causes delay emission at shorter wavelengths. Time-resolved anisotropy decay measurements revealed similar correlation times, but different amplitudes, as has been observed previously for two- versus one-photon excitation.