The collection of fluorescence from a molecule inside a sphere illuminated with single or counterpropa-gating plane waves is modeled. The results are applicable to microdroplet-based single molecule detection techniques and to some microparticle characterization techniques using inelastic emission. The large position-dependent variations in the fluorescence collection rate are primarily attributable to variations in the excitation intensity. With plane-wave illumination the collection from shadow regions is low because the incident energy is refracted by,the droplet surface away from these regions. The average collection rate from molecules in shadow regions can be increased by illuminating with counterpropagating beams. # 1997 Optical Society of America
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