Modeling fluorescence collection from single molecules in microspheres: effects of position, orientation, and...

We present calculations of fluorescence from single molecules (modeled as damped oscillating dipoles) inside a dielectric sphere. For an excited molecule at an arbitrary position within the sphere we calculate the fluorescence intensity collected by an objective in some well-defined detection geometry. We find that, for the cases we model, integration over the emission linewidth of the molecule is essential for obtaining representative results. Effects such as dipole position and orientation, numerical aperture of the collection objective, sphere size, emission wavelength, and linewidth are examined. These results are applicable to single-molecule detection techniques employing microdroplets.