title: Probing the radiative transition of single molecules with a tunable microresonator.
abstract: Using a tunable optical microresonator with subwavelength spacing, we demonstrate controlled modulation of the radiative transition rate of a single molecule, which is measured by monitoring its fluorescence lifetime. Variation of the cavity length changes the local mode structure of the electromagnetic field, which modifies the radiative coupling of an emitting molecule to that field. By comparing the experimental data with a theoretical model, we extract both the pure radiative transition rate as well as the quantum yield of individual molecules. We observe a broad scattering of quantum yield values from molecule to molecule, which reflects the strong variation of the local interaction of the observed molecules with their host environment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Eberhard Karls University, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexey I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Chizhik
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Chizhik
authors.forename: Dmitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Khoptyar
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bär
authors.forename: Alfred J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Meixner
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Enderlein
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015336:Molecular Probe Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055096:Optical Devices; D014159:Transducers