The use of fluorescence quenchers in resonance Raman spectroscopy

Abstract We discuss methods of increasing the resonance Raman signal to noise in the presence of a strong fluorescence background. By considering the time dependence of the competing processes, we conclude that for many commonly encountered systems the Raman signal can be enhanced over the fluorescence by introducing a quencher that decreases the lifetime of the radiative electronic state. The efficacy of this approach is demonstrated by the appearance of resonance Raman from fluorescein in water with the progressive addition of KI.