Plasmonic enhancement has long been exploited to boost signal from single molecules in techniques like surface enhanced fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy. Success in these areas has inspired the use of surface plasmon resonances to improve signal-to-noise in super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, but inclusion of plasmonic nanoparticles into sub-diffraction-limited imaging has been shown to introduce systematic errors in the apparent locations of the molecules of interest. In this talk, I present a physically intuitive theoretical approach to understanding the physical origin and properties of this, so-called, mislocalization error based upon an analytic model of the plasmon - fluorophore system as a pair of coupled, radiating dipole oscillators. In analogy to the spectral asymmetry parameter defining the Fano antiresonance, I introduce an analytic spatial parameter that governs asymmetry in the radiation pattern of a pair of interacting emitters located within a single diffraction-limited spot. This analysis exposes the relationship between fluorescence enhancement and mislocalization error, providing a guide to experimentalists seeking to incorporate plasmonic nanoparticles into super-resolution fluorescence microscopy.

Understanding mislocalization error in plasmon enhanced super-resolution fluorescence microscopy

255th National Meeting (2018)

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