Characterization of Standard Reference Material 2943, Cu-ion-doped glass, spectral correction standard for blue fluorescence

Standard Reference Material (SRM) 2943 is a cuvette-shaped, Cu-ion-doped glass, recommended for use for relative spectral correction of emission and day-to-day performance verification of steady-state fluorescence spectrometers. Properties of this standard that influence its effective use or contribute to the uncertainty in its certified emission spectrum were explored here. These properties include its photostability, absorbance, dissolution rate in water, anisotropy and temperature coefficient of fluorescence intensity. The expanded uncertainties in the certified spectrum are about 5% around the peak maximum at 446 nm, using an excitation wavelength of 330 nm. SRM 2943 can replace SRM 936a quinine sulfate dihydrate, which is no longer sold by NIST, for many applications, as it covers the same spectral range. SRM 2943 is significantly more photostable than organic dyes, but unlike the other fluorescent glass SRMs in this series, it does photodegrade gradually under lamp-based excitation.