CdSe/PMMA: Plastic fiber material containing CdSe quantum dots

An optical gain plastic, CdSe/PMMA, poly-methyl methacrylate doped with CdSe quantum dot (QD), is reported in this study. With a narrow size distribution of the QD prepared by organic synthesis, the measured results show that the photoluminescence (PL) peak intensity is enhanced by similar to 2.5 times, FWHM broadened by similar to 10 nm, and the PL peak wavelength blue shifted by similar to 25 nm in the CdSe/PMMA compared with plain CdSe QD. Under continuous irradiation of 473-nm laser, the PL peak intensity is positively correlated with time within the first hour after the samples are fabricated, but gradually stabilizes afterward. The obtained results suggest that the Cd5e/PMMA material reported here is a desirable optical gain plastic. Potential applications include high gain wideband fiber amplifiers or other photonic devices in the future due to its high flexibility, low weight and low cost. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.