Controlling the angular emission of a single molecule

Author

Gersen, H.-J. ; Garcia-Parajo, M.F. ; Veerman, J.-A. ; Kuipers, L.K. ; van Hulst, Niek F.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Appl. Phys., Twente Univ., Enschede, Netherlands

fYear

2000

fDate

12-12 May 2000

Firstpage

16

Lastpage

17

Abstract

Summary form only given. A single fluorescent molecule in an isotropic medium acts as a dipole radiator. In a locally heterogeneous environment the angular emission pattern is modified. Recently Novotny (1996) calculated strongly peaked angular emission when the emitter is brought in close proximity to a strong dielectric-metal gradient. We believe we present the first direct observation of this prediction; moreover we show that manipulating the field gradient on a nanometric scale can control the emission direction. Single molecules are detected in near-field optical arrangement.

Keywords

fluorescence; optical microscopy; sensitivity; angular emission; angular emission control; angular emission pattern; dielectric-metal gradient; dipole radiator; direct observation; emission direction; field gradient; isotropic medium; locally heterogeneous environment; nanometric scale; near-field optical arrangement; single fluorescent molecule; single molecule; single molecules; strong dielectric-metal gradient; Apertures; Fluorescence; Light sources; Optical filters; Optical microscopy; Optical scattering; Optical sensors; Probes; Resonance light scattering; Ring lasers;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference, 2000. (QELS 2000). Technical Digest

Conference_Location

San Francisco, CA, USA

ISSN

1094-5695

Print_ISBN

1-55752-608-7

Type

conf

Filename

901342