  Highly ordered periodic arrays of silver nanoparticles have been fabricated
which exhibit surface plasmon resonances in the visible spectrum. We
demonstrate the ability of these structures to alter the fluorescence
properties of vicinal dye molecules by providing an additional radiative decay
channel. Using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), we have created
high resolution spatial maps of the molecular lifetime components; these show
an order of magnitude increase in decay rate from a localized volume around the
nanoparticles, resulting in a commensurate enhancement in the fluorescence
emission intensity.
