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Register a new userVisually Constructing the Chemical Structure of a Single Molecule by Scanning Raman Picoscopy
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The strong spatial confinement of a nanocavity plasmonic field has made it possible to visualize the inner structure of a single molecule and even to distinguish its vibrational modes in real space. With such ever-improved spatial resolution, it is anticipated that full vibrational imaging of a molecule could be achieved to reveal molecular structural details. Here we demonstrate full Raman images of individual vibrational modes on the {AA}ngstrom level for a single Mg-porphine molecule, revealing distinct characteristics of each vibrational mode in real space. Furthermore, by exploiting the underlying interference effect and Raman fingerprint database, we propose a new methodology for structural determination, coined as scanning Raman picoscopy, to show how such ultrahigh-resolution spectromicroscopic vibrational images can be used to visually assemble the chemical structure of a single molecule through a simple Lego-like building process.
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Single molecule spectroscopy aims at unveiling often hidden but potentially very important contributions of single entities to a systems ensemble response. Albeit contributing tremendously to our ever growing understanding of molecular processes the fundamental question of temporal evolution, or change, has thus far been inaccessible, resulting in a static picture of a dynamic world. Here, we finally resolve this dilemma by performing the first ultrafast time-resolved transient spectroscopy on a single molecule. By tracing the femtosecond evolution of excited electronic state spectra of single molecules over hundreds of nanometres of bandwidth at room temperature we reveal their non-linear ultrafast response in an effective 3-pulse scheme with fluorescence detection. A first excitation pulse is followed by a phase-locked de-excitation pulse-pair, providing spectral encoding with 25 fs temporal resolution. This experimental realisation of true single molecule transient spectroscopy demonstrates that two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy of single molecules is experimentally in reach.
A method is proposed to pin down an unambiguous proof for single molecule surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The simultaneous use of two analyte molecules enables a clear confirmation of the single (or few) molecule nature of the signals. This method eliminates most of the uncertainties associated with low dye concentrations in previous experiments. It further shows that single-molecule signals are very common in SERS, both in liquids and on dry substrates.
In recent years it became possible to align molecules in free space using ultrashort laser pulses. Here we explore two schemes for controlling molecule-surface scattering process, which are based on the laser-induced molecular alignment. In the first scheme, a single ultrashort non-resonant laser pulse is applied to a molecular beam hitting the surface. This pulse modifies the angular distribution of the incident molecules, and causes the scattered molecules to rotate with a preferred sense of rotation (clockwise or counter-clockwise). In the second scheme, two properly delayed laser pulses are applied to a molecular beam composed of two chemically close molecular species (isotopes, or nuclear spin isomers). As the result of the double pulse excitation, these species are selectively scattered to different angles after the collision with the surface. These effects may provide new means for the analysis and separation of molecular mixtures.
Glycans play a central role as mediators in most biological processes, but their structures are complicated by isomerism. Epimers and anomers, regioisomers, and branched sequences contribute to a structural variability that dwarfs those of nucleic acids and proteins, challenging even the most sophisticated analytical tools, such as NMR and mass spectrometry. Here, we introduce an electron tunneling technique that is label-free and can identify carbohydrates at the single-molecule level, offering significant benefits over existing technology. It is capable of analyzing sub-picomole quantities of sample, counting the number of individual molecules in each subset in a population of coexisting isomers, and is quantitative over more than four orders of magnitude of concentration. It resolves epimers not well separated by ion-mobility and can be implemented on a silicon chip. It also provides a readout mechanism for direct single-molecule sequencing of linear oligosaccharides.
Optical detection and spectroscopy of single molecules has become an indispensable tool in biological imaging and sensing. Its success is based on fluorescence of organic dye molecules under carefully engineered laser illumination. In this paper we demonstrate optical detection of single molecules on a wide-field microscope with an illumination based on a commercially available, green light-emitting diode. The results are directly compared with laser illumination in the same experimental configuration. The setup and the limiting factors, such as light transfer to the sample, spectral filtering and the resulting signal-to-noise ratio are discussed. A theoretical and an experimental approach to estimate these parameters are presented. The results can be adapted to other single emitter and illumination schemes.
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