PNNL

Abstract

The fluorescence intensity of single molecules can change dramatically even under constant laser excitation. The phenomenon is frequently called "blinking" and involves molecules switching between high and low intensity states.[1-3] In additional to spontaneous blinking, the fluorescence of some special fluorophores, such as cyanine dyes and photoactivatable fluorescent proteins, can be switched on and off by choice using a second laser. Recent single-molecule spectroscopy investigations have shed light on mechanisms of single molecule blinking and photoswitching. This ability to controllably switch single molecules led to the invention of a novel fluorescence microscopy with nanometer spatial resolution well beyond the diffraction limit.