Visualization of molecular fluorescence point spread functions via remote excitation switching fluorescence microscopy

Liang Su, Gang Lu, Bart Kenens, Susana Rocha, Eduard Fron, Haifeng Yuan, Chang Chen, Pol Van Dorpe, Maarten B. J. Roeffaers, Hideaki Mizuno, Johan Hofkens, James A. Hutchison () and Hiroshi Uji-i ()
Additional contact information
Liang Su: KU Leuven
Gang Lu: KU Leuven
Bart Kenens: KU Leuven
Susana Rocha: KU Leuven
Eduard Fron: KU Leuven
Haifeng Yuan: KU Leuven
Chang Chen: IMEC
Pol Van Dorpe: IMEC
Maarten B. J. Roeffaers: KU Leuven, Center for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis
Hideaki Mizuno: KU Leuven
Johan Hofkens: KU Leuven
James A. Hutchison: ISIS & icFRC, Université de Strasbourg & CNRS UMR 7006
Hiroshi Uji-i: KU Leuven

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The enhancement of molecular absorption, emission and scattering processes by coupling to surface plasmon polaritons on metallic nanoparticles is a key issue in plasmonics for applications in (bio)chemical sensing, light harvesting and photocatalysis. Nevertheless, the point spread functions for single-molecule emission near metallic nanoparticles remain difficult to characterize due to fluorophore photodegradation, background emission and scattering from the plasmonic structure. Here we overcome this problem by exciting fluorophores remotely using plasmons propagating along metallic nanowires. The experiments reveal a complex array of single-molecule fluorescence point spread functions that depend not only on nanowire dimensions but also on the position and orientation of the molecular transition dipole. This work has consequences for both single-molecule regime-sensing and super-resolution imaging involving metallic nanoparticles and opens the possibilities for fast size sorting of metallic nanoparticles, and for predicting molecular orientation and binding position on metallic nanoparticles via far-field optical imaging.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7287

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