Single-Molecule Detection

Single-molecule detection (SMD) provides a practical method of examining the behavior of individual molecules. This has application both for fundamental studies of particle dynamics such as diffusion in solutions, and for bio-technology applications such as DNA sequencing.

In this thesis I discuss two confocal epi-illumination microscopes constructed at UTSI and used for single-molecule detection and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Examples of data collected from experiments using each instrument is presented in which solutions of the fluorescent dye sulforhodamine 101 are analyzed. An example of the use of the instrument to detect fluorescence quenching is also presented.