Improving zero-mode waveguide structure for enhancing signal-to-noise ratio of real-time single-molecule fluorescence imaging: A computational study
Abstract
We investigated the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of real-time single-molecule fluorescence imaging (SMFI) using zero-mode waveguides (ZMWs). The excitation light and the fluorescence propagating from a molecule in the ZMW were analyzed by computational optics simulation. The dependence of the S/N on the ZMW structure was investigated with the diameter and etching depth as the simulation parameters. We found that the SMFI using a conventional ZMW was near the critical level for detecting binding and dissociation events. We show that etching the glass surface of the ZMW by 60 nm enhances the S/N six times the conventional nonetched ZMWs. The enhanced S/N improves the temporal resolution of the SMFI at physiological concentrations.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review E
- Pub Date:
- July 2013
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevE.88.012727
- Bibcode:
- 2013PhRvE..88a2727T
- Keywords:
-
- 87.80.Nj;
- Single-molecule techniques