COLLECTION OF EMISSION FROM AN OSCILLATING DIPOLE INSIDE A SPHERE - ANALYTICAL INTEGRATION OVER A CIRCULAR APERTURE

We describe a method for integrating analytically, over a circular ape rture, the emission from an oscillating dipole inside a dielectric sph ere. The model is useful for investigating fluorescence, Raman, or oth er emission from molecules inside of spherical particles or droplets. The analysis is performed for two cases: (a) the dipole emits from a f ixed orientation, and (b) the dipole emits from all orientations and t he collected energy is summed. This second case models the collection of emission from a molecule that is excited repeatedly; after each exc itation it rotates to a random orientation before emitting. These resu lts are applicable to single-molecule detection techniques employing m icrodroplets and to other techniques for characterizing microparticles with luminescence or inelastic scattering. (C) 1997 Optical Society o f America.