The goal of this laboratory is to develop and apply advanced fluorescence concepts and measurements to biochemical questions. We are active in the use of fluorescence to quantify structural features of biological molecules. We are now exploring multi-photon excitation of fluorescence as a method to obtain novel information from the time-resolved fluorescence data and as the basis for future studies of multi-photon fluorescence microscopy. Additionally, development of new probes is being used to allow novel methods for fluorescence sensing.

Plasmon-Controlled Fluorescence

During the past several years we have studied the interactions of fluorophores with metallic particles or surfaces. We will refer to conducting metallic structures as metals. We have observed a number of important spectral changes, including increases in intensity and photostability, decreased lifetimes due to increased rates of radiative decay, and increased distances for FRET. We have also shown that fluorophores can create surface plasmons in metals which in turn create light. We believe the potential of these phenomena is far greater than we imagined several years ago. Our results suggest that by using fluorophore-metal interactions it will be possible to control the migration of electromagnetic energy across and through metal surfaces, and to control when and where the energy is converted back into light. We refer to these phenomenon as plasmon-controlled fluorescence (PCF).
We believe that fluorescence is now poised for a paradigm shift which will change how we think about fluorescence and will expand its capabilities in research, medical diagnostics and imaging.