Related papers: Direct detection of single molecules by optical ab…
We demonstrate an optical method for detecting the mechanical oscillations of an atom with single-phonon sensitivity. The measurement signal results from the interference between the light scattered by a single trapped atomic ion and that…
We present a reliable and robust integrated fluorescence detector capable of detecting single atoms. The detector consists of a tapered lensed single-mode fiber for precise delivery of excitation light and a multimode fiber to collect the…
Localization of single fluorescent molecules is key for physicochemical and biophysical measurements such as single-molecule tracking and super-resolution imaging by single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM). Recently a series of…
Real quantum measurements almost always cause a much stronger back action than required by the laws of quantum mechanics. In particular, free-space optical detection methods for single atoms and ions such as the shelving technique, though…
Label-free detection techniques for single particles and molecules play an important role in basic science, disease diagnostics, and nanomaterial investigations. While traditional fluorescence-based methods offer powerful tools for single…
We suggest a novel approach for probing of local fluctuations of the refractive index $n$ in solids by means of single-molecule (SM) spectroscopy. It is based on the dependence $T_1(n)$ of the effective radiative lifetime $T_1$ of dye…
The reliable detection of single quantum particles has revolutionized the field of quantum optics and quantum information processing. For several years, researchers have aspired to extend such detection possibilities to larger scale…
The diffraction of light imposes a fundamental limit on the resolution of light microscopes. This limit can be circumvented by creating and exploiting independent behaviors of the sample at length scales below the diffraction limit. In…
We report the cooling of an atomic ensemble with light, where each atom scatters only a single photon on average. This is a general method that does not require a cycling transition and can be applied to atoms or molecules which are…
We show that structural information can be extracted from single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) data. More precisely, we reinterpret SMLM data as the measures of a phaseless optical diffraction tomography system for which the…
Single-photon detectors have achieved impressive performance, and have led to a number of new scientific discoveries and technological applications. Existing models of photodetectors are semiclassical in that the field-matter interaction is…
We report on a novel bichromatic fluorescent imaging scheme for background-free detection of single CaF molecules trapped in an optical tweezer array. By collecting fluorescence on one optical transition while using another for…
The possibility of spatially resolving the optical properties of atomically thin materials is especially appealing as they can be modulated at the micro- and nanoscale by reducing their thickness, changing the doping level or applying a…
Recent breakthroughs in cryogenic silicon detector technology allow for the observation of single electron-hole pairs released via particle interactions within the target material. This implies sensitivity to energy depositions as low as…
Identifying chemical compounds is essential in several areas of science and engineering. Laser-based techniques are promising for autonomous compound detection because the optical response of materials encodes enough electronic and…
We report the optical absorption characteristics and the photocurrent spectra for large-area molecular junctions containing different molecular structures and thicknesses. Through experimental assessment of the optical absorption of…
Single-molecule approaches to biology offer a powerful new vision to elucidate the mechanisms that underpin the functioning of living cells. However, conventional optical single molecule spectroscopy techniques such as F\"orster…
Quantum optics has driven major advances in our ability to generate and detect correlations between individual photons. Its principles are now increasingly translated into nanoscale characterization techniques, enhancing spectroscopy,…
We propose a general method to cool the translational motion of molecules. Our method is an extension of single photon atomic cooling which was successfully implemented in our laboratory. Requiring a single event of absorption followed by a…
While detection of optical photons is today achieved with very high efficiencies, the detection of microwave fields at the photon level still poses non-trivial experimental challenges. In this Letter we propose a model of microwave…