Spontaneous emission enhancement of a single molecule by a double-sphere nanoantenna across an interface

TL;DR

This study demonstrates a significant enhancement in spontaneous emission of a single molecule using a double-sphere nanoantenna, with controllable fluorescence modification across an interface, supported by experimental and numerical agreement.

Contribution

It introduces a novel nanoantenna configuration with controllable emission enhancement for single molecules across an interface.

Findings

Achieved two orders of magnitude reduction in fluorescence lifetime.

Controlled molecular fluorescence using a fiber-attached gold nanosphere.

Experimental results agree well with numerical simulations.

Abstract

We report on two orders of magnitude reduction in the fluorescence lifetime when a single molecule placed in a thin film is surrounded by two gold nanospheres across the film interface. By attaching one of the gold particles to the end of a glass fiber tip, we could control the modification of the molecular fluorescence at will. We find a good agreement between our experimental data and the outcome of numerical calculations.