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. 2008 Sep 15;8(9):5673–5744. doi: 10.3390/s8095673

Table 2.

Summary of typical process times from excitation to emission.

Transition Example Process Rate Typical Timescale

So → S1 Excitation, Absorption k(e) Femtoseconds, 10−15 s
Internal Conversion k(ic) Picoseconds, 10−12 s
Vibrational Relaxation k(vr) Picoseconds, 10−12 s
S1 → S0 (radiative) Florescence k(f) Typically less than 10−8 s
S1 → S0 (non radiative) Quenching and other non radiative processes k(nr), k(q) 10−7 – 10−5 s
S1 → T1 Intersystem Crossing k(pt) 10−10 – 10−8 s
T1 → S0 Phosphorescence k(p) 10−3 – 100 s (earlier literature)
> 10−8 s (recent literature)