showing 5 related works from this author
Coherent Electronic Coupling versus Localization in Individual Molecular Dimers
2004
International audience; The electronic excitation transfer and coherent electronic coupling strength were investigated in molecular dimers by spectrally resolved confocal fluorescence spectroscopy. The direct probe of electronic coupling strength distribution was possible due to static disorder in polymer host by single molecule measurements. The dimers with delocalized excitation were also found in comparison to emission originated from localized states. The delocalized and localized state transitions were observed for dimers which were attributed to structural fluctuations of guest-host system.
Toward oxygen binding curves of single respiratory proteins
2004
Oxygen binding curves of single molecules promise to discriminate between different models describing cooperativity because load distributions are accessible. Individual tarantula hemocyanins could be detected by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy using intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence as sensor of bound oxygen. However, imaging of immobilized proteins was not possible due to fast photo-bleaching. It is shown that tetra-methyl-carboxy-rhodamine (TAMRA), commonly used as a fluorescence label in single-molecule spectroscopy, can also be applied to monitor bound oxygen. The dye's fluorescence is quenched due to Förster energy transfer to the oxygenated active sites of hemocyanin.
Two-photon excitation microscopy of tryptophan-containing proteins.
2002
We have examined the feasibility of observing single protein molecules by means of their intrinsic tryptophan emission after two-photon excitation. A respiratory protein from spiders, the 24-meric hemocyanin, containing 148 tryptophans, was studied in its native state under almost in vivo conditions. In this specific case, the intensity of the tryptophan emission signals the oxygen load, allowing one to investigate molecular cooperativity. As a system with even higher tryptophan content, we also investigated latex spheres covered with the protein avidin, resulting in 340 tryptophans per sphere. The ratio of the fluorescence quantum efficiency to the bleaching efficiency was found to vary b…
Towards the origin of the shear force in near-field microscopy
2001
The shear force from a gold or a graphite sample acting on an approaching near-field optical probe is studied in detail. The adiabatic and dissipative contributions to the force are clearly distinguished by monitoring the amplitude as well as the phase of the tip vibration when the tip approaches the surfaces. We also take into account that not only the damping and the resonance frequency but also the mass of the system changes when the tip approaches the surface. The relative strength of the contributions to the force varies differently but characteristically with the distance of the two samples, starting at a much larger distance in the case of graphite. The adiabatic contribution is lar…
Absorption and Scattering Microscopy of Single Metal Nanoparticles.
2006
Several recently developed detection techniques opened studies of individual metal nanoparticles (1-100 nm in diameter) in the optical far field. Eliminating averaging over the broad size and shape distributions produced by even the best of current synthesis methods, these studies hold great promise for gaining a deeper insight into many of the properties of metal nanoparticles, notably electronic and vibrational relaxation. All methods are based on detection of a scattered wave emitted either by the particle itself, or by its close environment. Direct absorption and interference techniques rely on the particle's scattering and have similar limits in signal-to-noise ratio. The photothermal …