Note: On the choice of the appropriate excitation-pulse-length for assessment of slow luminescence decays.

The decay-time distribution deduced from luminescence kinetics experiments is, in general, dependent on the excitation pulse length as a direct consequence of different onset dynamics. We demonstrate this effect for the case of square excitation pulses applied to study the luminescence kinetics in Si nanocrystals. The short- and long-pulse limits are defined as 0.1 times the shortest lifetime in the distribution and 3 times the longest time, respectively. Outside these limits the decay-time distribution is independent on the pulse duration. In addition, we describe experimental conditions required to obtain a correct depiction of slow luminescence decay in the μs to ms time range.