Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Satyajit Patra, Jean-Benoit Claude, Jerome Wenger
Summary: This study thoroughly investigates the influence of zero-mode waveguide (ZMW) on the fluorescence of single molecules. The results show that the photostability is preserved in ZMW and both fluorescence brightness and total number of emitted photons are increased. Additionally, it is demonstrated that nanophotonics can enhance the FRET process.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Prithu Roy, Jean-Benoit Claude, Sunny Tiwari, Aleksandr Barulin, Jerome Wenger
Summary: The study demonstrates the use of ultraviolet autofluorescence of tryptophan amino acids to study single proteins without fluorescence labeling. By combining nanophotonic plasmonic antennas, antioxidants, and background reduction techniques, the sensitivity of label-free ultraviolet fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (UV-FCS) is improved to the level of single tryptophan residues. This breakthrough enables the application of UV-FCS to a wide range of label-free proteins.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Maria Sanz-Paz, Fangjia Zhu, Nicolas Bruder, Karol Kolataj, Antonio I. Fernandez-Dominguez, Guillermo P. Acuna
Summary: By modifying the local density of photonic states, optical nanoantennas can alter the emission spectrum of a dye. In this study, DNA origami was used to precisely position an individual dye around a gold nanorod and observe how it affects the emission spectrum. The spectral overlap between the nanorod resonance and different vibrational levels of the dye's excitonic ground state can lead to strong suppression or enhancement of transitions.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Fangjia Zhu, Maria Sanz-Paz, Antonio Fernandez-Dominguez, Xiaolu Zhuo, Luis M. Liz-Marzan, Fernando D. Stefani, Mauricio Pilo-Pais, Guillermo P. Acuna
Summary: Optical antennas are nanostructures designed to manipulate light-matter interactions by interfacing propagating light with localized optical fields. Successful phased array nanoantenna designs have required the organization of several elements over a footprint comparable to the operating wavelength. This study reports unidirectional emission of a single fluorophore using an ultracompact optical antenna, achieving high forward to backward ratio.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Liam Collard, Filippo Pisano, Di Zheng, Antonio Balena, Muhammad Fayyaz Kashif, Marco Pisanello, Antonella D'Orazio, Liset M. de la Prida, Cristian Ciraci, Marco Grande, Massimo De Vittorio, Ferruccio Pisanello
Summary: This paper discusses the integration of plasmonic structures on optical fibers and its potential applications. The turbidity of light propagation in multimode fibers hinders dynamic control of the coupling between guided light fields and plasmonic resonances. Utilizing the information of guided modes, the authors demonstrate the spatiotemporal control of plasmonic resonances by employing dynamic phase modulation.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kateryna Trofymchuk, Karol Kolataj, Viktorija Glembockyte, Fangjia Zhu, Guillermo P. Acuna, Tim Liedl, Philip Tinnefeld
Summary: DNA origami has become a leading technology for organizing materials at the nanoscale, particularly for manipulating light using plasmonic nanoparticles. In this study, gold nanorods were arranged in a plasmonic nanoantenna dimer, resulting in a 1600-fold enhancement of fluorescence from a conventional near-infrared dye located at the plasmonic hotspot between the nanorods. Various characterization techniques and numerical simulations provided insights into the heterogeneity of the observed enhancement values. The use of a recently introduced design called NAnoantenna with Cleared HotSpot (NACHOS) enabled the creation of a hotspot region with a size of approximately 12 nm, which allows for the incorporation of tailored bioassays. The possibility of synthesizing nanoantennas in solution opens the potential for large-scale production.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Aleksandra K. Adamczyk, Teun A. P. M. Huijben, Miguel Sison, Andrea Di Luca, Stefano Vanni, Sophie Brasselet, Kim I. Mortensen, Fernando D. Stefani, Mauricio Pilo-Pais, Guillermo P. Acuna
Summary: This study demonstrates a controlled orientation of single molecules in DNA origami by linking them to oligonucleotide strands and leaving unpaired bases. The number of unpaired bases affects the stretching and orientation of the fluorophore linkers. These findings expand the application of DNA origami in the fabrication of nanodevices involving orientation-dependent molecular interactions.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Peng Mao, Changxu Liu, Yubiao Niu, Yuyuan Qin, Fengqi Song, Min Han, Richard E. Palmer, Stefan A. Maier, Shuang Zhang
Summary: Materials exhibit diverse responses to incident light based on their unique dielectric functions, with the optical response in nanotechnology being influenced by both material properties and geometric structures. The advancement of nanotechnology has led to significant progress in optical structures with feature sizes smaller than the optical wavelength, resulting in flourishing developments in plasmonics and photonic crystals. A counterintuitive system consisting of plasmonic nanostructures composed of different materials but exhibiting almost identical reflection has been proposed, highlighting the insensitivity of the optical response to different plasmonic materials.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Nathan Kimmitt, Esther A. Wertz
Summary: Metal nanoantennas can manipulate light emission and detection at the single photon level by confining light into small volumes. By using optical gradient forces, this study successfully traps single emitters into nanocavities, showing improved photostability and track lengths compared to emitters farther away from the structure, especially for resonant antennas. These results pave the way for reliable coupling of single emitters to single nanoantennas using plasmonic optical trapping.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Prithu Roy, Siyuan Zhu, Jean-Benoit Claude, Jie Liu, Jerome Wenger
Summary: Plasmonic optical nanoantennas have been widely studied for their ability to enhance light-matter interactions at the nanoscale. This research focuses on the UV range, which has been overlooked in previous studies. By constructing UV resonant nanogap antennas using rhodium nanocubes, the researchers were able to significantly enhance the UV autofluorescence of proteins and achieve detection at high concentrations. This work expands the applicability of plasmonic nanoantennas to the deep UV range and enables the investigation of label-free proteins at physiological concentrations.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sihai Luo, Bard H. Hoff, Stefan A. Maier, John C. de Mello
Summary: This study evaluates some of the most promising techniques for nanogap fabrication, including traditional methods like photolithography, electron-beam lithography, and focused ion beam milling, as well as newer methods using novel electrochemical and mechanical means for patterning. The physical principles behind each method are reviewed, and their strengths and limitations for nanogap patterning are discussed in terms of resolution, fidelity, speed, ease of implementation, versatility, and scalability to large substrate sizes.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mikael Madsen, Mette R. Bakke, Daniel A. Gudnason, Alexander F. Sandahl, Rikke A. Hansen, Jakob B. Knudsen, Anne Louise B. Kodal, Victoria Birkedal, Kurt Gothelf
Summary: The study investigates a single molecule conjugated polymer functionalized with DNA strands, serving as a photonic wire capable of transferring light over a distance of 24 nm. Energy transfer from donor to polymer and from polymer to acceptor is achieved through the placement of fluorophores at specific positions along the polymer. This demonstrates the potential of using conjugated polymers for nanophotonics.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Sunny Tiwari, Prithu Roy, Jean-Benoit Claude, Jerome Wenger
Summary: This article presents a method for achieving high temporal resolution in single-molecule fluorescence techniques using plasmonic nanoantennas, specifically optical horn antennas. By optical horn antennas, about 90% of the total emitted light is collected with a high fluorescence brightness of 2 million photons/s/molecule in the saturation regime. This enables observations of single molecules with microsecond binning time and fast fluorescence correlation spectroscopy measurements.
ADVANCED OPTICAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Rituraj, Meir Orenstein, Shanhui Fan
Summary: The study explores the interaction of a single photon with multiple atoms, achieving tunable scattering by changing the angle of the incident photon. Perfect electromagnetically-induced transparency is demonstrated using two atoms with two-level structures, with scalability to large systems for novel optical device design. An atomically thin parabolic mirror is designed to focus single photons and create a quantum mirage in a cavity constructed from atoms.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dimitrios Papas, Jun-Yu Ou, Eric Plum, Nikolay I. Zheludev
Summary: Metastable optically controlled devices (optical flip-flops) are important in various applications. However, the weak optical nonlinearities have hindered the development of low-power bistable devices. This work introduces a new type of volatile optical bistability in a hybrid nano-optomechanical device, which can be switched between bistable optical states with microwatts of optical power and its volatile memory can be erased by removing the acoustic signal.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mariano Barella, Ianina L. Violi, Julian Gargiulo, Luciana P. Martinez, Florian Goschin, Victoria Guglielmotti, Diego Pallarola, Sebastian Schluecker, Mauricio Pilo-Pais, Guillermo P. Acuna, Stefan A. Maier, Emiliano Cortes, Fernando D. Stefani
Summary: The study implemented anti-Stokes thermometry for the photothermal characterization of individual nanoparticles, revealing that water dominates heat dissipation for NPs larger than 50 nm. Additionally, comparing the photothermal response of gold nanoparticles on different substrates demonstrated the significant role of interfacial thermal resistances in nanoscopic systems.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alan M. Szalai, Bruno Siarry, Jeronimo Lukin, David J. Williamson, Nicolas Unsain, Alfredo Caceres, Mauricio Pilo-Pais, Guillermo Acuna, Damian Refojo, Dylan M. Owen, Sabrina Simoncelli, Fernando D. Stefani
Summary: The photometric method SIMPLER allows decoding of the axial position of single molecules in a total internal reflection fluorescence microscope without hardware modification, delivering nearly isotropic nanometric resolution 3D images in single-molecule localization microscopy. Achieving high axial resolution remains challenging in this field.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kristina Huebner, Himanshu Joshi, Aleksei Aksimentiev, Fernando D. Stefani, Philip Tinnefeld, Guillermo P. Acuna
Summary: The study introduces a new technique to determine the orientation of single fluorophores in DNA origami structures, providing insights into the relationship between the fluorophores, environment, and structure. Results indicate that the orientation of fluorophores is influenced more by the specific molecular environment than the type of fluorophore.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kateryna Trofymchuk, Viktorija Glembockyte, Lennart Grabenhorst, Florian Steiner, Carolin Vietz, Cindy Close, Martina Pfeiffer, Lars Richter, Max L. Schuette, Florian Selbach, Renukka Yaadav, Jonas Zaehringer, Qingshan Wei, Aydogan Ozcan, Birka Lalkens, Guillermo P. Acuna, Philip Tinnefeld
Summary: The development of highly sensitive photodetectors and photostabilization strategies has made single-molecule fluorescence detection a routine task in labs worldwide. Simplifying single-molecule detection could enable exciting applications in various settings, such as diagnostic points. A new type of addressable NanoAntennas with Cleared HOtSpots (NACHOS) was introduced, allowing for detection using a standard smartphone camera and inexpensive objective lens.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Fangjia Zhu, Maria Sanz-Paz, Antonio Fernandez-Dominguez, Xiaolu Zhuo, Luis M. Liz-Marzan, Fernando D. Stefani, Mauricio Pilo-Pais, Guillermo P. Acuna
Summary: Optical antennas are nanostructures designed to manipulate light-matter interactions by interfacing propagating light with localized optical fields. Successful phased array nanoantenna designs have required the organization of several elements over a footprint comparable to the operating wavelength. This study reports unidirectional emission of a single fluorophore using an ultracompact optical antenna, achieving high forward to backward ratio.
Correction
Optics
Luciano A. Masullo, Alan M. Szalai, Lucia F. Lopez, Mauricio Pilo-Pais, Guillermo P. Acuna, Fernando D. Stefani
LIGHT-SCIENCE & APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Optics
Luciano A. Masullo, Alan M. Szalai, Lucia F. Lopez, Mauricio Pilo-Pais, Guillermo P. Acuna, Fernando D. Stefani
Summary: Localization of single fluorescent emitters is crucial for nanoscale measurements. RASTMIN is a method that achieves high localization precision using a standard confocal microscope.
LIGHT-SCIENCE & APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Aleksandra K. Adamczyk, Teun A. P. M. Huijben, Miguel Sison, Andrea Di Luca, Stefano Vanni, Sophie Brasselet, Kim I. Mortensen, Fernando D. Stefani, Mauricio Pilo-Pais, Guillermo P. Acuna
Summary: This study demonstrates a controlled orientation of single molecules in DNA origami by linking them to oligonucleotide strands and leaving unpaired bases. The number of unpaired bases affects the stretching and orientation of the fluorophore linkers. These findings expand the application of DNA origami in the fabrication of nanodevices involving orientation-dependent molecular interactions.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Fangjia Zhu, Maria Sanz-Paz, Antonio Fernandez-Dominguez, Mauricio Pilo-Pais, Guillermo P. Acuna
Summary: In this study, the performance of an ultracompact optical antenna based on gold nanorods was investigated through numerical simulations. The results showed that directional emission can be achieved by exciting the antiphase mode of the antenna, and the design is robust to structural variations.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kateryna Trofymchuk, Karol Kolataj, Viktorija Glembockyte, Fangjia Zhu, Guillermo P. Acuna, Tim Liedl, Philip Tinnefeld
Summary: DNA origami has become a leading technology for organizing materials at the nanoscale, particularly for manipulating light using plasmonic nanoparticles. In this study, gold nanorods were arranged in a plasmonic nanoantenna dimer, resulting in a 1600-fold enhancement of fluorescence from a conventional near-infrared dye located at the plasmonic hotspot between the nanorods. Various characterization techniques and numerical simulations provided insights into the heterogeneity of the observed enhancement values. The use of a recently introduced design called NAnoantenna with Cleared HotSpot (NACHOS) enabled the creation of a hotspot region with a size of approximately 12 nm, which allows for the incorporation of tailored bioassays. The possibility of synthesizing nanoantennas in solution opens the potential for large-scale production.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Piotr Zdankowski, Lucia F. Lopez, Guillermo P. Acuna, Fernando D. Stefani
Summary: The localization of single fluorescent emitters is crucial for nanoscale physicochemical and biophysical measurements. MINFLUX and other related methods have achieved breakthroughs in resolution, enabling true nanoscale fluorescence nanoscopy and single-molecule tracking.
Article
Biophysics
Samet Kocabey, Guillermo P. Acuna, Curzio Ruegg
Summary: miRNA has the potential to be biomarkers for early disease detection, and the sensitive and accurate detection of miRNA can improve diagnosis and treatment of diseases, especially cancer. This study introduces a DNA origami nanoarray system that uses super-resolution microscopy technique DNA-PAINT to detect miRNAs based on their distance to boundary markers. The sensor can detect up to 4 miRNAs separately or in combination, with high sensitivity and large dynamic range, without the need for amplification. The detection system can also discriminate single base mismatches with low false positive rates. This ultrasensitive and amplification-free miRNA detection method has been successfully applied to detect breast-cancer associated miRNAs in cell extracts and plasma.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ayse Tugca Mina Yesilyurt, Maria Sanz-Paz, Fangjia Zhu, Xiaofei Wu, Karthika Suma Sunil, Guillermo P. Acuna, Jer-Shing Huang
Summary: Optical quantum emitters near nanostructures exhibit structure-dependent emission properties. In this work, we successfully construct ultracompact unidirectional nanoemitters using DNA origami method, achieving high front-to-back ratio and emission enhancement for single molecules.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
P. Elli Stamatopoulou, Sotiris Droulias, Guillermo P. Acuna, N. Asger Mortensen, Christos Tserkezis
Summary: This paper introduces and analyzes the concept of manipulating optical chirality by strongly coupling the optical modes of chiral nanostructures with excitonic transitions in molecular layers or semiconductors. By demonstrating the generation of two spectral branches that retain the object's high chirality density through strong coupling with a nearby excitonic material, the authors propose that post-fabrication manipulation of optical chirality can be achieved. These findings are further verified through simulations of circular dichroism in a realistic chiral architecture.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ivana Domljanovic, Morgane Loretan, Susanne Kempter, Guillermo P. Acuna, Samet Kocabey, Curzio Ruegg
Summary: DNA nanotechnology offers a promising approach for the development of cost-effective and easy-to-use biomedical nanoscale devices, which can serve as alternatives to expensive and complex diagnostic devices. In particular, DNA nanotechnology-based devices are highly advantageous in oncology applications for the detection of cancer-associated nucleic acids.
