Label-Free Microrefractometry of Interfacial Processes Using Fluorescent Smart Coverslips
Abstract
Molecular dipoles near interfaces emit highly directional radiation due to near-field interactions, making surface-bound fluorophores sensitive probes of local physicochemical changes. We introduce smart coverslips, stably coated with uniform, brightly fluorescent nanobead films, that exploit refractive-index-dependent emission shifts for sensitive micro-refractometry in small volumes. Supercritical-angle fluorescence refractometry uses single back-focal-plane images to allow us real-time RI sensing and nanometric thin-film height measurements without the need for multi-angle or multi-wavelength acquisition. Our fast, label-free, and non-invasive approach allows measurements of thin-film properties and monitoring of interfacial dynamics on a standard inverted microscope and is broadly applicable to nanobiophotonics, chemical sensing, and in-situ materials analysis.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2605.01472,
title = {Label-Free Microrefractometry of Interfacial Processes Using Fluorescent Smart Coverslips},
author = {Hodaya Klimovsky and Amitay Ginsberg and Dmytro Ohorodniichuk and Maria Shehadeh and Ilya Olevsko and Gerardo Byk and Martin Oheim and Adi Salomon},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.01472},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
38 pages, 4 figures (main text) and 9 supporting figures