We designed a fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) system for measurements on surfaces. The system consists of an objective-type total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy setup, adapted to measure FCS. Here, the fluorescence exciting evanescent wave is generated by epi-illumination through the periphery of a high NA oil-immersion objective. The main advantages with respect to conventional FCS systems are an improvement in terms of counts per molecule (cpm) and a high signal to background ratio. This is demonstrated by investigating diffusion as well as binding and release of single molecules on a glass surface. Furthermore, the size and shape of the molecule detection efficiency (MDE) function was calculated, using a wave-vectorial approach and taking into account the influence of the dielectric interface on the emission properties of fluorophores.

The two previously reported calculations of the amplitude distribution of speckles in optical coherence tomography, each based on a different mathematical formulation, yield different results. We show that a modification of an initial assumption in one of the formulations leads to equivalent results.

We achieved photon count rates per molecule as high as with commonly used confocal fluorescence correlation spectroscopy instruments using a new total internal reflection fluorescence correlation spectroscopy system based on an epiillumination configuration.

The triplet-state kinetics of several fluorescent dyes used in ultrasensitive fluorescence microscopy are investigated using total internal reflection fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (TIR-FCS). A theoretical outline of the correlation analysis and the physical aspects of evanescent excitation and fluorescence emission at dielectric interfaces are given. From this analysis, the rates of intersystem crossing and triplet decay are deduced for fluorescein, ATTO 488, rhodamine 110, rhodamine 123, and rhodamine 6G in aqueous buffer solutions. All investigated dyes show slightly higher triplet rates at the dielectric interface compared to bulk solution measurements. We attribute this enhancement to possible modifications of the dyes' photophysical properties near a dielectric interface. In the case of rhodamine 6G, the impact of changes in the dye concentration, ionic strength of the solvent, and potassium iodide concentration are also investigated. This leads to a better understanding of the influences of dye-dye, dye-solvent, and dye-surface interactions on the increased triplet intersystem crossing and triplet decay rates. The study shows that analysis of triplet-state kinetics by TIR-FCS not only results in a better understanding of how the photophysical properties of the dyes are affected by the presence of an interface, but also provides a means for probing the microenvironment near dielectric interfaces.