Articles récents

Marseille science festival 2010

21 Octobre 2010 , Rédigé par JW Publié dans #Nanophotonics pick

1210_affiche.jpg

In the magazine: portable single molecule fluorescence sensor

14 Octobre 2010 , Rédigé par JW Publié dans #Recent research work

Following up with the story of the smallest single molecule detection apparatus ever, and first portable FCS system with true single molecule routine sensitivity, my team has recently published a technical note in the Spectra Analyse magazine. This is also an introduction as to why fluorescence correlation spectroscopy is a powerful method to extend standard fluorescence spetroscopies. A free reprint can be found here.

Summary: Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is a versatile method that would greatly benefit to remote optical fiber fluorescence sensors. However, the current state-of-the-art struggles with low detection sensitivities that prevent the extension of fiber-based FCS down to the single-molecule level. Here we describe a novel probe based on an optical fiber combined with a dielectric microsphere to perform FCS analysis down to the single fluorescent molecule level. This offers new opportunities for reducing the bulky microscope setup and extends FCS to remote or in vivo applications.

 

IMG_2712.JPG

Latest paper: single nanoaperture SERS

7 Octobre 2010 , Rédigé par JW Publié dans #Recent research work

My team has released an article in the October 7th issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry C.

A wide range of studies had been recently devoted to nanoaperture arrays as substrates to enhance the Raman scattering spectrocopy of adsorbed molecules. However, only partial information is known concerning the case of a single nanoaperture. Our paper fills this gap, and discusses the first quantitative evaluation of the SERS enhancement factors on single nanoapertures milled in optically thick gold films.

This work has three major aspects of interest to the SERS community: 

1) Nanoapertures milled in noble metal films form interesting SERS substrates thanks to their rational and tunable design, controlled surface enhancement, and intrinsic robustness. We discuss the different design parameters yielding to optimum SERS enhancement already in a single aperture which can be used to further improve the SERS substrates with nanoaperture arrays.

2) We discuss different ways of expressing the SERS enhancement factor, and show excellent agreement between experimental results and numerical simulations.

3) Most experimental studies of controlled SERS substrates skip the issue of the adhesion layer between the gold nanostructure and the glass substrate. We experimentally demonstrate that the adhesion layer has a crucial effect on the SERS enhancement, and needs to be fully considered while designing nanosubstrates for high-sensitivity spectroscopy.

A reprint for personal use only is freely available here.

 

Wenger-Schem-TOC.jpg

Next conference : EOS annual meeting 2010

6 Octobre 2010 , Rédigé par JW Publié dans #Recent research work

Meet me at the TOM3 Nanophotonics and Metamaterials during the next annual meeting of the European Optical Society.

I'll have a talk on Thursday October 28th 10am. While most of the presentation should focus on our recent methods to experimentally characterize optical nano-antennas, I'll also show some of our most recent (unpublished) results on controling fluorescence directional emission.

 

eos_am_logo.jpg

Do you want to give a boost to your h index ?

21 Septembre 2010 , Rédigé par JW Publié dans #Fancy lab

With a title like this, I'm sure my blog will receive much visits from search engines . If you came here while looking for some h index or h factor data, then you'll already wasting your time.

 

Procrastinate a few more minutes to this very well written article (in French only sorry). For the English-reading only people, I've also selected this editorial. Be careful all this is highly ironic !

 

phd120808s