Spectroscopy of individual Brownian nanoparticles in real-time using holographic localization

Abstract

Individual nanoparticle spectroscopic characterization is fundamental, but challenging in liquids. While confocal selectivity is necessary to isolate a particle in a crowd, Brownian motion constantly offsets the particle from the light collection volume. Here, we present a system able to acquire holograms and reconstruct them to precisely determine the 3D position of a particle in real time. These coordinates drive an adaptive system comprising two galvanometric mirrors (x,y, transverse directions) and a tunable lens (z, longitudinal) which redirect light scattered from the corresponding region of space towards the confocal entrance of a spectrometer, thus allowing long spectral investigations on individual, freely-moving particles. A study of the movements and spectra of individual 100 nm Au nanoparticles undergoing two types of aggregations illustrates the possibilities of the method.