title: Optical methods for single molecule detection and analysis.
abstract: As analytical chemists, the highest resolution measurement one can make is at the single molecule level; it just does not get any better than that. To determine the concentration of a molecule in solution, the best way is to count the number of molecules in a given volume. As long as the volume contains a statistically large enough number of molecules and is above the Poisson noise limit, molecular counting is the most accurate way to make a measurement. Molecular counting is the method of the future and is beginning to be performed today.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Walt
mesh_terms: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000032:analysis; D008863:Microspheres; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes