Optical signal comparison of single fluorescent molecules and Raman active gold nanostars.

Allgeyer, Edward S; Pongan, Adam; Browne, Michael; Mason, Michael D · Nano Lett · 2009

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The relevant photophysical properties of single fluorescent molecules and single SERS active surface-coated gold nanostars tagged with the Raman reporter molecule 4-mercaptopyridine are compared for imaging purposes. Mean count rate distributions are built from the single molecule/single probe level. The individually observed variance and count rates of both systems are compared as well as the behavior over multiple image acquisitions.