Acquisition of a Confocal Microscopy Facility for Single Molecule Spectroscopy and Dynamics

在重大研究仪器(MRI)采购计划的支持下，罗切斯特大学化学系将建造一个共焦光学显微镜设施。这将使单分子的近红外和拉曼光谱研究成为可能。将研究瞬时光致发光实验(皮秒时间尺度)和荧光闪烁现象(毫秒到千秒)。实验将在PbSe量子点、单聚合物链、细胞色素c中的蛋白质(Cytc)和单碳纳米管上进行。这将为单分子和聚合物链的光谱闪烁、单分子水平的蛋白质折叠以及单碳纳米管的光物理提供洞察力。显微镜将允许在有可能解开通常在涉及更多粒子的研究中被掩盖的效应的条件下研究单分子和纳米粒子。这有可能提供重要的科学见解，可能会影响材料科学、设备制造、电信和分子生物学等领域。该仪器将通过化学系网页的链接向化学系以外的地方提供，这些网页将宣传该设施的能力并鼓励外部用户。该仪器将可供研究生和本科生使用，而设置的拉曼将用于本科生实验室课程。

With support from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Acquisition Program, the Department of Chemistry at the Unversity of Rochester will construct a confocal optical microscope facility. This will enable the study of single molecules in the near-infrared and by Raman spectroscopy. Transient photoluminescence experiments (picosecond time scale) and fluorescence blinking phenomenon (millisecond to kilosecond) will be investigated. Experiments will be performed on PbSe quantum dots, single polymer chains, proteins in cytochrome c (cyt c), and single carbon nanotubes. This will provide insights on spectral blinking of single molecules and polymer chains, protein folding at the single molecule level, and the photophysics of single carbon nanotubes.The microscope will allow the study of single molecules and nanoparticles under conditions where it is possible to disentangle effects that are ordinarily masked in investigations involving larger numbers of particles. This has the potential to provide important scientific insights that could impact areas in materials science, device fabrication, telecommunications and molecular biology. The instrument will be made available beyond the Chemistry Department with links from the department web pages that will advertise the capabilities of the facility and encourage outside users. The instrument will be available to graduate and undergraduate research students and the Raman set up will be used in undergraduate laboratory classes.