Ronceray Nathan, You Yi, Glushkov Evgenii, Lihter Martina, Rehl Benjamin, Chen Tzu-Heng, Nam Gwang-Hyeon, Borza Fanny, Watanabe Kenji, Taniguchi Takashi, Roke Sylvie, Keerthi Ashok, Comtet Jean, Radha Boya, Radenovic Aleksandra
Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology, Institute of Bioengineering (IBI), School of Engineering (STI), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Laboratory for Fundamental BioPhotonics, Institute of Bioengineering (IBI), School of Engineering (STI), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Nat Mater. 2023 Oct;22(10):1236-1242. doi: 10.1038/s41563-023-01658-2. Epub 2023 Aug 31.
Liquids confined down to the atomic scale can show radically new properties. However, only indirect and ensemble measurements operate in such extreme confinement, calling for novel optical approaches that enable direct imaging at the molecular level. Here we harness fluorescence originating from single-photon emitters at the surface of hexagonal boron nitride for molecular imaging and sensing in nanometrically confined liquids. The emission originates from the chemisorption of organic solvent molecules onto native surface defects, revealing single-molecule dynamics at the interface through the spatially correlated activation of neighbouring defects. Emitter spectra further offer a direct readout of the local dielectric properties, unveiling increasing dielectric order under nanometre-scale confinement. Liquid-activated native hexagonal boron nitride defects bridge the gap between solid-state nanophotonics and nanofluidics, opening new avenues for nanoscale sensing and optofluidics.
限制在原子尺度的液体可以展现出全新的性质。然而，在这种极端限制条件下，只有间接和总体测量方法可行，这就需要能够在分子水平进行直接成像的新型光学方法。在这里，我们利用六方氮化硼表面单光子发射器发出的荧光，对纳米级受限液体进行分子成像和传感。这种发射源于有机溶剂分子在天然表面缺陷上的化学吸附，通过相邻缺陷的空间相关激活揭示了界面处的单分子动力学。发射器光谱还能直接读出局部介电性质，揭示出纳米尺度限制下不断增加的介电有序性。液体激活的天然六方氮化硼缺陷弥合了固态纳米光子学和纳米流体学之间的差距，为纳米级传感和光流体学开辟了新途径。
