Fluorolog-3 v. 2.2 (11 Jul 2002)
Determining the Plateau Voltage
12-1
Note:
In the standard configuration, the software supplies a maximum
voltage of 1200 V to the detector(s). Certain applications (IR fluores-
cence measurements, for example) require detectors with operating
voltages near 1450 V. In these cases, the standard high-voltage board
should be replaced with an optional board that increases the high-
voltage output to 2000 V.
12: Determining the Plateau
Voltage
Introduction
The
plateau voltage
is the voltage at which the signal intensity is maximized, while the
dark-count intensity is minimized. The emission signal detector requires a voltage input to
operate. The operating voltage determines the sensitivity of the detector. To achieve the
highest sensitivity possible, the plateau voltage determination should be performed when-
ever a new detector is installed.
Approximately 30 min are needed to acquire the data and 15 min to display the data in the
form of two data files.
Overview of the procedure
1
Compose a table with dark counts and
corresponding signal intensities at incremental
voltages.
2
Construct a graph. Note the point at which the
signal intensity is maximized and the dark-count
intensity is minimized.
This is the
plateau voltage
, the point at which the highest sensitivity of the
detector is achieved.
To record the values, construct or photocopy the following table:
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