Single molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer scanning near-field optical microscopy

The first single molecule fluorescence resonant energy transfer scanning near-field optical microscope (FRET SNOM) images of CdSe nanocrystal (donor) deposited onto the glass slide surface are presented. Images were obtained using the earlier proposed FRET SNOM probes which are 30–100 nm thick polymer layers stained with the acceptor dye molecules coated onto the apex of the standard sharp aperture SNOM tip. An original SNOM construction enabling very fast scanning was used to overcome the photostability problem.