Surface-enhanced fluorescence electromagnetic enhancement

Alternatively, various analytical methods based on SPR phenomenon have been developed, including surface plasmon field-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) [7], surface plasmon field-enhanced fluorescence spectroscopy (SPFS) [8-11], surface enhanced second harmonic generation (SHG) [12], surface enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) [13], surface plasmon field-enhanced diffraction spectroscopy (SPDS) [14-18], Most of these methods take advantage of the greatly enhanced electromagnetic field of surface plasmon waves, in order to excite a chromophoric molecule, e.g., a Raman molecule or a fluorescent dye. Therefore, a better sensitivity is expected. 

The electromagnetic nature of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and plasmon-enhanced fluorescence (PEF) involves resonant excitations of localized plasmons (LPs) in the near-field of nanosized noble metal particles or films, coupling them with surrounding scatterers and detection of their secondary emission in the far field. Employment of these plasmonic phenomena are proposed, for example, as a new approach to increase brightness of heavily labeled macromolecules [1]. 

The surface-enhanced fluorescence, SEF, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering, SERS, phenomena are inextricably tied to one another due to their conunon electromagnetic enhancement origin, and thus there is a very strong overlap in their lit ature. In fact, there is often a direct competition between fluorescence and Raman scattering that, as we shall see, with strategic experimental design, can be exploited. There are, however, a few very important points on which these two effects differ, the most important of which is their distance dependence. 

This handbook presents a comprehensive overview on the physics of the plasmon-emitter interaction, ranging from electromagnetism to quantum mechanics, from metal-enhanced fluorescence to surface-enhanced Raman scattering, and from optical microscopy to the synthesis of metal nanoparticles, filling the gap in the literature of this emerging field. It is useful for graduate students as well as researchers from various fields who want to enter the field of molecular plasmonics. The text allows experimentalists to have a solid theoretical reference at a different level of accuracy and theoreticians to find new stimuli for novel computational methods and emerging applications. 

The electromagnetic field enhancement provided by nanostructure plasmonics is the key factor to manipulate the quantum efficiency. However, as it is illustrated in the unified theory of enhancement, since both the radiative and non-radiative rates of the molecular systems are affected by proximity of the nanostructure, the tuning has to be done on a case by case basis. In addition, there are factors due to molecule-metal interactions and molecular orientation at the surface causing effects that are much more molecule dependent and as are much more difficult to predict. Given the fact that fluorescence cross sections are the one of the highest in optical spectroscopy the analytical horizon of SEF or MEF is enormous, in particular in the expanding field of nano-bio science. 

The detected fluorescence can be significantly enhanced, however, by exploiting the plasmonic enhancement which can occur when a metal nanoparticle (NP) is placed in the vicinity of a fluorescent label or dye [1-3]. This effect is due to the localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) associated with the metal NP, which modifies the intensity of the electromagnetic (EM) field around the dye and which, under certain conditions, increases the emitted fluorescence signal. The effect is dependent on a number of parameters such as metal type, NP size and shape, NP-fluorophore separation and fluorophore quantum efficiency. There are two principal enhancement mechanisms an increase in the excitation rate of the fluorophore and an increase in the fluorophore quantum efficiency. The first effect occurs because the excitation rate is directly proportional to the square of the electric field amplitude, and the maximum enhancement occurs when the LSPR wavelength, coincides with the peak of the fluorophore absorption band [4, 5]. The second effect involves an increase in the quantum efficiency and is maximised when the coincides with the peak of the fluorophore emission band [6]. 

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