Localized surface plasmon-enhanced green quantum dot light-emitting diodes using gold nanoparticles

We develop a localized surface plasmon (LSP)-enhanced CdSe/ZnS green quantum dot (QD) light-emitting diode (LED) containing Au nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in a ZnO electron transport layer. Au NPs blended in ZnO solution are directly spin coated onto the QD emissive layer to provide strong coupling between LSPs in Au NPs and excitons in QDs, greatly enhancing the electroluminescence (EL). Photoluminescence (PL) and EL intensities are greatly enhanced by 4.12 and 4.33-fold, respectively. Maximum PL and EL enhancement ratios of 4.47 and 4.54 are observed at 535 and 532 nm, respectively, and these are similar to the LSP resonance wavelength of 536 nm for Au NPs in ZnO films. The results indicate that the EL enhancement of the QD-LED is attributed to strong resonance coupling between excitons in the QDs and LSPs in the Au NPs in ZnO films.