MOLECULAR LIFETIME CHANGES INDUCED BY NANOMETER-SCALE OPTICAL-FIELDS

We present a new practical scheme to study the spectroscopic propertie s of molecules embedded in optically complex surroundings. The respons e function accounting for the modification of the spectroscopic behavi or of the molecules is derived self-consistently in direct space throu gh the numerical solution of Dyson's equation. We apply this scheme to investigate near-field optical effects due to fluorescence phenomena. Experimentally relevant examples show that the dramatic decay of the molecular lifetime upon approaching a surface defect could achieve wel l-resolved imaging of subwavelength structures.