It has long been thought that the detection of individual molecules in ambient conditions via their absorption signature was out of reach. Now, three independent research groups have developed three different methods that allow such a feat.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Moerner, W. E. & Kador, L. Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 2535–2538 (1989).
Orrit, M. & Bernard, J. Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 2716–2719 (1990).
Tinnefeld, P. & Sauer, M. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 44, 2642–2671 (2005).
De Cremer, G., Sels, B. F., De Vos, D. E., Hofkens, J. & Roeffaers, M. B. J. Chem. Soc. Rev. 39, 4703–4717 (2010).
Gaiduk, A., Yorulmaz, M., Ruijgrok, P. V. & Orrit, M. Science 330, 353–356 (2010).
Kukura, P., Celebrano, M., Renn, A. & Sandoghdar, V. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 1, 3323–3327 (2010).
Chong, S., Min, W. & Xie, X. S. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 1, 3316–3322 (2010).
Celebrano, M., Kukura, P., Renn, A. & Sandoghdar, V. Nature Photon. 5, 95–98 (2011).
Hell, S. W. Science 316, 1153–1158 (2007).
Hotta, J. I. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132, 5021–5023 (2010).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hofkens, J., Roeffaers, M. Single-molecule light absorption. Nature Photon 5, 80–81 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2011.7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2011.7
This article is cited by
-
Non-fluorescent schemes for single-molecule detection, imaging and spectroscopy
Nature Photonics (2016)
