Gold nanoparticles for enhanced single molecule fluorescence analysis at micromolar concentration

Individual metal nanoparticles represent an inexpensive and versatile platform to enhance the detection of fluorescent species at biologically relevant concentrations. Here we use fluorescence correlation spectroscopy to quantify the near-field detection volume and average fluorescence enhancement factors set by a single gold nanoparticle. We demonstrate detection volumes down to 270 zeptoliters (three orders of magnitude beyond the diffraction barrier) together with 60-fold enhancement of the fluorescence brightness per molecule.