The conventional method of performing laser-induced fluorescence, as well as other types of spectroscopic measurements, such as infrared, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, phosphorescence, etc., is to use a small transparent laboratory vessel, a cuvette, to contain the sample to be analyzed.
To perform a measurement, the cuvette is filled with the liquid to be investigated and then illuminated with a laser focused through one of the cuvette's faces. A lens is placed in line with one of the faces of the cuvette located at 90° from the input window to collect the laser-induced fluorescent light. Only a small volume of the cuvette is actually illuminated by the laser and produces a detectable spectroscopic emission. The output signal is significantly reduced because the lens picks up only about 10% of the spectroscopic emission due to solid angle considerations. This technique has been used for at least 75 years; even before the laser existed, when conventional light sources were used to excite the fluorescence.
SOFIA solves the problem of low collection efficiency, as it collects nearly all of the fluorescent light produced from the sample being analyzed, increasing the amount of fluorescence signal by around a factor of 10 over conventional apparatus.