Metal鈥揇ielectric Waveguides for High Efficiency Fluorescence Imaging

详细信息    查看全文

• 作者：Liangfu Zhu ; Douguo Zhang ; Ruxue Wang ; Pei Wang ; Hai Ming ; Ramachandram Badugu ; Luping Du ; Xiaocong Yuan ; Joseph R. Lakowicz
• 刊名：Journal of Physical Chemistry C
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：October 22, 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：119
• 期：42
• 页码：24081-24085
• 全文大小：309K
• ISSN：1932-7455

文摘

We demonstrate that metal鈥揹ielectric waveguide structures (MDWs) with high efficiency of fluorescence coupling can be suitable as substrates for fluorescence imaging. This hybrid MDW consists of a continuous metal film and a dielectric top layer. The optical modes sustaining inside this structure can be excited with a high numerical aperture (N.A.) objective and then focused into a virtual optical probe with high intensity, leading to efficient excitation of fluorophores deposited on top of the MDWs. The emitted fluorophores couple with the optical modes, thus, enabling the directional emission, which is verified by the back focal plane (BFP) imaging. These unique properties of MDWs have been adopted in a scanning laser confocal optical microscopy and show the merit of high efficiency fluorescence imaging. MDWs can be easily fabricated by vapor deposition and spin coating, and the silica surface of the MDWs is suitable for biomolecule tethering and will offer new opportunities for cell biology and biophysics research.