The Lim lab has two wet labs, one large and one small, with two dedicated fume hoods, for nanoparticle synthesis and functionalization and also handling of biologicals. The wetlab is climate controlled for biological work, with ruby lights to discourage degradation of fluorescently tagged DNA/proteins. The labs have other supporting equipment such as fridges (-80oC, -20oC and 4oC), centrifuges (benchtop and refrigerated), ultrapure water system, autoclave, vortexes (single and multi-), ultrasonic bath and probe tip sonicator, thermo-mixers and pipettors.
Our optical lab is equipped with a high-end inverted microscope setup with accessories such as a PI Nano piezo stage, a half-meter monochromator, and an Andor Neo sCMOS camera, for single-molecule fluorescence, DIC, and dark field microscopy. A tunable Nd:YAG laser and a number of diode lasers are coupled into the microscope. Single particle spectra and time-resolved decay can be recorded using a series of photon detectors optimized for different wavelength ranges. We have photon detectors from Hamamatsu H7421 for green detection, an Excelitas single photon counting unit for red detection, and a Hamamatsu NIR- PMT Module (H10330A-75) for NIR detection.
Predictive Modeling of Photonic Structures
- Combine physics numerical modeling and single particle correlated spectroscopy to understand fundamental mechanisms involved in fluorescent enhancement.
- 1) Enhance excitation/absorption 2) Increase optical density of states: Increase transition rates of radiative over non-radiative pathways. 3) Selectively enhance emission at certain wavelengths, e.g. blue, green, red.
Funding
- Army Research Office ARO (W911NF2110283, PI Lim)
- National Institutes of Health (1R21ES027641-01, PI Lim)
- National Science Foundation CBET (1067508, PI Lim)
Collaborators
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