title: Strong extinction of a laser beam by a single molecule.
abstract: We present an experiment where a single molecule strongly affects the amplitude and phase of a laser field emerging from a subwavelength aperture. We achieve a visibility of -6% in direct and +10% in cross-polarized detection schemes. Our analysis shows that a close to full extinction should be possible using near-field excitation.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gerhardt
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wrigge
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bushev
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zumofen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agio
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pfab
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sandoghdar