Advanced non-quantum ghost imaging for detecting and quantifying surface fluorescence in light-polluted environments

A novel approach for a ghost imaging measurement method is presented, combining the single-detector measurement technique with a coded aperture approach to detect and quantify the surface fluorescence effect as two-dimensional information and to determine the fluorescence lifetime. A lock-in approach and estimation of the phase information of harmonically modulated illumination light up to 10MHz are used to improve the signal sensitivity and make the measurement method suitable for multiple applications, especially in highly light-polluted environments. The combination of these methods enables an amplitude and phase measurement of the samples to be evaluated to determine an amplitude and phase reconstruction numerically depending on the modulation frequency to characterize the surface fluorescence effect and to determine the fluorescence lifetime down to 100ns. With this new measurement method, different samples, e.g. solar cells, polymers or other composite materials, can be examined, realizing the scalability of the measurement system for various applications.