Scanning near-field optical microscopy using semiconductor nanocrystals as a local fluorescence and fluorescence resonance energy transfer source

G T Shubeita; S K Sekatskii; G Dietler; I Potapova; A Mews; T Basché

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2818.2003.01143.x

Scanning near-field optical microscopy using semiconductor nanocrystals as a local fluorescence and fluorescence resonance energy transfer source

J Microsc. 2003 Jun;210(Pt 3):274-8. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2818.2003.01143.x.

Authors

G T Shubeita¹, S K Sekatskii, G Dietler, I Potapova, A Mews, T Basché

Affiliation

¹ Institut de Physique de la Matière Condensée, Université de Lausanne, BSP, CH1015 Lausanne-Dorigny, Switzerland.

PMID: 12787098
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2818.2003.01143.x

Abstract

Local fluorescence probes based on CdSe semiconductor nanocrystals were prepared and tested by recording scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) images of calibration samples and fluorescence resonance energy transfer SNOM (FRET SNOM) images of acceptor dye molecules inhomogeneously deposited onto a glass substrate. Thousands of nanocrystals contribute to the signal when this probe is used as a local fluorescence source while only tens of those (the most apical) are involved in imaging for the FRET SNOM operation mode. The dip-coating method used to make the probe enables diminishing the number of active fluorescent nanocrystals easily. Prospects to realize FRET SNOM based on a single fluorescence centre using such an approach are briefly described.