A. Castro and E. B. Shera, "Single-Molecule Detection: Applications to ultrasensitive biochemical analysis," Applied Optics 34, 3218-3222 (1995).

Abstract
Recent developments in laser-based detection of fluorescent molecules have made possible the implementation of very sensitive techniques for biochemical analysis. In this paper, we present and discuss our experiments on the applications of our recently developed technique of single-molecule detection to the analysis of molecules of biological interest. These newly developed methods are capable of detecting and identifying biomolecules at the single-molecule level of sensitivity. In one case, identification is based on measuring fluorescence brightness from single molecules. In another, molecules are classified by determining their electrophoretic velocities.