SINGLE-MOLECULE ANALYSIS OF ULTRADILUTE SOLUTIONS WITH GUIDED STREAMS OF 1-MU M WATER DROPLETS
1999
We describe instrumentation for real-time detection of
single-molecule fluorescence in guided streams of 1-µm
(nominal) water droplets. In this technique, target molecules
were confined to droplets whose volumes were comparable with
illumination volumes in diffraction-limited fluorescence microscopy and
guided to the waist of a cw probe laser with an electrostatic
potential. Concentration detection limits for Rhodamine 6G in water
were determined to be ∼1 fM, roughly 3 orders of magnitude lower than
corresponding limits determined recently with diffraction-limited
microscopy techniques for a chemical separation of similar dyes. In
addition to its utility as a vehicle for probing single molecules,
instrumentation for producing and focusing stable streams of
1–2-µm-diameter droplets may have other important analytical
applications as well.
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