Abstract

We investigate the coupling of a single molecule to a single spherical gold nanoparticle acting as a nanoantenna. Using scanning probe technology, we position the particle in front of the molecule with nanometer accuracy and measure a strong enhancement of more than 20 times in the fluorescence intensity simultaneous to a 20-fold shortening of the excited state lifetime. Comparisons with three-dimensional calculations guide us to decipher the contributions of the excitation enhancement, spontaneous emission modification, and quenching. Furthermore, we provide direct evidence for the role of the particle plasmon resonance in the molecular excitation and emission processes.

Keywords

Materials scienceFluorescencePlasmonExcitationExcited stateSurface plasmon resonanceParticle (ecology)NanoparticleMoleculeMolecular physicsQuenching (fluorescence)Coupling (piping)Colloidal goldResonance (particle physics)OptoelectronicsAtomic physicsOpticsNanotechnologyPhysics

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Publication Info

Year
2006
Type
article
Volume
97
Issue
1
Pages
017402-017402
Citations
1533
Access
Closed

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Sergei Kühn, Ulf Håkanson, L. Rogobete et al. (2006). Enhancement of Single-Molecule Fluorescence Using a Gold Nanoparticle as an Optical Nanoantenna. Physical Review Letters , 97 (1) , 017402-017402. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.97.017402

Identifiers

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.97.017402