Description:

This project is part of an ongoing effort to integrate our electrochemical sensor technologies with opportunitites in chemical sensing by photon imaging. To do this we have constructed a photon counting station for use as an illuminometer and collection of fluorescence signals through a pulled fiber optic. A Hamamatsu R464 photo-multiplier tube is used for photon detection. A National instruments PCI-6036E is used to count the events and control a uniblitz vs-25 shutter. The software interface has been constructed using Lab-View 7. The Uniblitz shutter drive utilizes a Microchip PIC16F628 micro-controller pulse width modulator to drive a boost converter, converting 5 volts to 70 volts with a single 22uh inductor. The Uniblitz driver circuit serves as the basis for a precision circuit for piezo tube control. The Pic16F628 also has on the chip a 16 bit counter, we plan to use this to eliminate the PCI-6036e allowing the device to operate from a single RS232 port. With this photon counting system we can explore the use of luminescent chemical sensors and weak fluorescent signals located in cells and in the boundary layers.