Environmental effects on photoinduced electron transfer and fluorescence blinking of single semiconducting nanocrystals in various matrices

Abstract

In this report we explore how the surrounding environments around a single semiconducting nancrystal affect the photoinduced electron transfer, charge trapping fluorescence lifetime and fluorescence blinking. Using the time-correlated single photon counting techniques combined with confocal microscopy, we investigated photoluminescence of single CdSe/ZnS quantum dots embedded in agarose gel and on conductive substrates as examples. Understanding of the underlying mechanisms would allow us to better control of the photoluminescence properties of nanoparticles and to improve their performance in biophotonics and optoelectronics applications such as fluorescence markers, single-photon sources, photovoltaics and quantum dot lasers.