title: Plasmonic platforms of self-assembled silver nanostructures in application to fluorescence.
abstract: Fluorescence intensity changes were investigated theoretically and experimentally using self-assembled colloidal structures on silver semitransparent mirrors. Using a simplified quasi-static model and finite element method, we demonstrate that near-field interactions of metallic nanostructures with a continuous metallic surface create conditions that produce enormously enhanced surface plasmon resonances. The results were used to explain the observed enhancements and determine the optimal conditions for the experiment. The theoretical parts of the studies are supported with reports on detailed emission intensity changes which provided multiple fluorescence hot spots with 2-3 orders of enhancements. We study two kinds of the fluorophores: dye molecules and fluorescent nanospheres characterized with similar spectral emission regions. Using a lifetime-resolved fluorescence/reflection confocal microscopy technique, we find that the largest rate for enhancement (~1000-fold) comes from localized areas of silver nanostructures.
authors.affiliation: University of North Texas Health Science Center, Department of Molecular Biology and Immunology, Center for Commercialization of Fluorescence Technologies, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107.
authors.forename: Rafal
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luchowski
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Calander
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shtoyko
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Apicella
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Borejdo
authors.forename: Zygmunt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gryczynski
authors.forename: Ignacy
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gryczynski