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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 77 » Issue 19
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3979–3982 (1996)

Single Molecule Dynamics Studied by Polarization Modulation

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T. Ha, Th. Enderle, and D. S. Chemla
Physics Department, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720
and Molecular Design Institute, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720

P. R. Selvin
Life Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720

S. Weiss
Molecular Design Institute, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720

Received 1 May 1996; revised 9 July 1996; published in the issue dated 4 November 1996

We observed and made unambiguous distinctions between abrupt photophysical events of single molecules: a rotational jump of a single dipole, a transition to a dark state (reversible and irreversible photobleaching), and a spectral jump. The study was performed in the far field by modulating the excitation polarization and monitoring the fluorescence in time. This technique also allowed us to measure the in-plane dipole orientation of stationary single molecular dipoles with subdegree accuracy and to resolve desorption and readsorption of fluorophores from and onto a glass surface. In one case, clear evidence was obtained for rapid rotation of the dipole after a desorption process.

© 1996 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.3979
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.3979
PACS:
33.15.Kr, 33.50.-j, 33.80.-b
 
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