Probing the Conformations of Single Molecule via Photon Counting Statistics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method using photon counting statistics and the generalized Smoluchoswki equation to determine the conformation of single molecules, demonstrated with Thioflavin T, aligning well with ab initio computations.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach to probe single molecule conformations through photon counting statistics and dynamical equations, enabling accurate reconstruction of molecular structures.

Findings

Photon counting statistics effectively reveal molecular conformations.

The method accurately reproduces conformations consistent with ab initio calculations.

Resonant trajectories in photon emission provide detailed conformational information.

Abstract

We suggest an approach to detect the conformation of single molecule by using the photon counting statistics. The generalized Smoluchoswki equation is employed to describe the dynamical process of conformational change of single molecule. The resonant trajectories of the emission photon numbers $<N >$ and the Mandel's $Q$ parameter, in the space of conformational coordinates $\bm{\mathcal{X}}$ and frequency $\omega_L$ of external field ($\bm{\mathcal{X}}-\omega_L$ space), can be used to rebuild the conformation of the single molecule. As an example, we consider Thioflavin T molecule. It demonstrates that the results of conformations extracted by employing the photon counting statistics is excellent agreement with the results of {\it ab initio} computation.