Multiple-fluorophore-specie detection with a tapered Fabry-Perot fluorescence spectrometer

A novel fluorescence spectrometer and method for the simultaneous detection of multiple-fluorophore species in a no-moving-parts, instantaneous manner is described, In the reported embodiment of the instrument, a tapered Fabry-Perot filter is used to spatially encode the fluorescence spectrum from a multiple-dye-containing test sample. Using a pseudoinverse reconstruction algorithm, we spectrally decode the particle concentration for each dye specie in the test sample. Experimental results are reported along with a theoretical treatment of the method. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.