We have a fast (microsecond) picometer to measure the time dependence of photocurrents in bR or any other photoelectric material (such as silicon or photoconductive polymers). Nanosecond lasers such as the MOPO 730 can be used to induce the photocurrent. The time resolution is limited by the capacitance of the measuring system. Submicrosecond time resolution can be achieved, using a nanosecond laser as excitation source.

In addition, the Beckman DU650 spectrophotometer has a kinetics software to measure slow kinetics, such as enzyme kinetics. The time resolution is seconds or longer. A temperature regulator (NesLab RTE 100) is also attached to the sample compartment so that temperatures ranging from 5 to 70 degrees Celsius are easily achieved. For very low temperature studies, there is a low temperature helium cryostate ( CTI-Cryogenics model 22cp) with temperature range of 10 K to 300 K. From the temperature dependence of the kinetics or fluorescence intensity studies, activation energies can be obtained.

Other characterization techniques also available for our use include TEM, AFM, and Micro optical & Raman Spectrometer.