Numerical study on near field imaging of fluorescence decay of near-surface molecule cluster

We apply a recently established rigorous field propagator formalism to solve the electromagnetic radiation from a cluster of molecules, treated as point dipoles, near a metallic surface. For a given dipole lifetime in free space, we describe numerically the fluorescence decay of the molecules. Two-dimensional optical near field images above a group of random distributed near-surface molecules are presented at different moments during the decay. Complications and possible enhancements in the images are demonstrated and discussed. (C) 1998 American Vacuum Society.