Study of fluorescence lifetime modification for car lighting by single gold nanoparticle localized surface plasmon

Abstract

Interactions between fluorephores and surface plasmon was investigated by a custom-built fluorescence lifetime system. Gold nanoparticle with double-stranded DNA on the surface was utilized to exactly control the distance between fluorephores and the nanoparticle. We calculated surface plasmon-induced changes in the radiative decay rate constant and the quenching rate constant. The results revealed that the distance between the fluorephore and the nanoparticle strongly affected the radiative decay rate and the quenching rate. With an increase in the distance, the radiative decay rate decreased while the quenching rate increased. This suggests that the distance between fluorephores and surface plasmon plays an important role in fluorescence lifetime modification. The results also indicated that the fluorescence lifetime of the fluorephores can be significantly modified by surface plasmon resonance. This indicates that surface plasmon resonance can be used as a tool to control the fluorescence lifetime of fluorephores for sensing applications.