title: Tuning Fluorescence Direction with Plasmonic Metal-Dielectric- Metal Substrates.
abstract: Controlling the emission properties of fluorophores is essential for improving the performance of fluorescence-based techniques in modern biochemical research, medical diagnosis, and sensing. Fluorescence emission is isotropic in nature, which makes it difficult to capture more than a small fraction of the total emission. Metal- dielectric-metal (MDM) substrates, discussed in this Letter, convert isotropic fluorescence into beaming emission normal to the substrate. This improves fluorescence collection efficiency and also opens up new avenues for a wide range of fluorescence-based applications. We suggest that MDM substrates can be readily adapted for multiple uses, such as in microarray formats, for directional fluorescence studies of multiple probes or for molecule-specific sensing with a high degree of spatial control over the fluorescence emission.
  Physical Processes in Nanomaterials and Nanostructures.
authors.affiliation: Center for Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 725 West Lombard Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States.
authors.forename: Sharmistha Dutta
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Choudhury
authors.forename: Ramachandram
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Badugu
authors.forename: Kazimierz
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nowaczyk
authors.forename: Krishanu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Lakowicz