Broadband ultraviolet-visible transient absorption spectroscopy in the nanosecond to microsecond time domain with sub-nanosecond time resolution.

A combination of sub-nanosecond photoexcitation and femtosecond supercontinuum probing is used to extend femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy into the nanosecond to microsecond time domain. Employing a passively Q-switched frequency tripled Nd:YAG laser and determining the jitter of the time delay between excitation and probe pulses with a high resolution time delay counter on a single-shot basis leads to a time resolution of 350 ps in picosecond excitation mode. The time overlap of almost an order of magnitude between fs and sub-ns excitation mode permits to extend ultrafast transient absorption (TA) experiments seamlessly into time ranges traditionally covered by laser flash photolysis. The broadband detection scheme eases the identification of intermediate reaction products which may remain undetected in single-wavelength detection flash photolysis arrangements. Single-shot referencing of the supercontinuum probe with two identical spectrometer/CCD arrangements yields an excellent signal-to-noise ratio for the so far investigated chromophores in short to moderate accumulation times. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.