Direct and stepwise energy transfer from excitons to plasmons in close-packed metal and semiconductor nanoparticle monolayer films

We studied the dynamics of photoluminescence (PL) and energy transfer in close-packed monolayer films of CdSe and Au nanoparticles (NPs) assembled using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. The PL intensity and dynamics depended on the ratio of CdSe to Au NPs in the mixed films. The PL quenching of CdSe NPs occurs through rapid energy transfer from excitons in CdSe NPs to plasmons in Au NPs. The PL decay curves of the mixed NPs monolayers are determined by three decay rates: the direct energy transfer between the nearest-neighbor CdSe and Au NPs (CdSe -> Au), the stepwise energy transfer from CdSe to CdSe to Au NPs (CdSe -> CdSe -> Au), and the radiative recombination in CdSe NPs.