Single-Molecule Time-Resolved Spectroscopy in a Tunable STM Nanocavity.

ABSTRACT: Spontaneous fluorescence rates of single-molecule emitters are typically on the order of nanoseconds. However, coupling them with plasmonic nanostructures can substantially increase their fluorescence yields. The confinement between a tip and sample in a scanning tunneling microscope creates a tunable nanocavity, an ideal platform for exploring the yields and excitation decay rates of single-molecule emitters, depending on their coupling strength to the nanocavity. With such a setup, we determine the excitation lifetimes from the direct time-resolved measurements of phthalocyanine fluorescence decays, decoupled from the metal substrates by ultrathin NaCl layers. We find that when the tip is approached to single molecules, their lifetimes are reduced to the picosecond range due to the effec

SUBMITTER: Dolezal J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10853955 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature