title: Experimental proof of concept of nanoparticle-assisted STED.
abstract: We imaged core-shell nanoparticles, consisting of a dye-doped silica core covered with a layer of gold, with a stimulated emission depletion, fluorescence lifetime imaging (STED-FLIM) microscope. Because of the field enhancement provided by the localized surface plasmon resonance of the gold shell, we demonstrate a reduction of the STED depletion power required to obtain resolution improvement by a factor of 4. This validates the concept of nanoparticle-assisted STED (NP-STED), where hybrid dye-plasmonic nanoparticles are used as labels for STED in order to decrease the depletion powers required for subwavelength imaging.
authors: Institut Néel, CNRS UPR 2940 , 25 rue des Martyrs BP 166, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
authors: Yannick
authors: Y
authors: Sonnefraud
authors: Hugo G
authors: HG
authors: Sinclair
authors: Yonatan
authors: Y
authors: Sivan
authors: Matthew R
authors: MR
authors: Foreman
authors: Christopher W
authors: CW
authors: Dunsby
authors: Mark A A
authors: MA
authors: Neil
authors: Paul M
authors: PM
authors: French
authors: Stefan A
authors: SA
authors: Maier
mesh_terms: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D057145:Nanoshells / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006046:Gold