Drumming up single-molecule beats

Horak and Goldsmith comments on the study of Chien et al that expands the single-molecule absorption microscopy toolkit. Single-particle and single-molecule techniques have become invaluable tools to unravel complex chemical phenomena and biological processes. While fluorescence-based techniques have flourished due to advances in wavelength-dependent optical filtering and highly sensitive detectors, other methodologies have only recently achieved single-molecule sensitivity limits. A technique based on an oscillating nanodrum offers a promising new direction. Chien et al. has used the high-Q mechanical resonances of a silicon nitride drum under vacuum as the thermal sensor.