Abstract

We report real-time observation of fluorescence bursts from individual Rhodamine 6G molecules in streams of microdroplets (peak signal-to-noise ratios, $\approx 30$) whose trajectories are constrained with a linear electric quadrupole. This approach offers a reasonable dynamic range in droplet size (3–$12-\mathit{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ diameter) with $<1\%$ shot-to-shot size fluctuations and sensitivity comparable with that of droplet levitation techniques with at least ${10}^3$ higher analysis rates. Applications to the study of single-molecule microcavity effects and stimulated emission are discussed.

© 1997 Optical Society of America

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