Fluorescence decay enhancement and FRET inhibition in self-assembled hybrid gold CdSe/CdS/CdZnS colloidal nanocrystal supraparticles

We report on the synthesis of hybrid light emitting particles with a diameter ranging between 100 and 500 nm, consisting in a compact semiconductor CdSe/CdS/CdZnS nanocrystal aggregate encapsulated by a controlled nanometric size silica and gold layers. We first characterize the Purcell decay rate enhancement corresponding to the addition of the gold nanoshell as a function of the particle size and find a good agreement with the predictions of numerical simulations. Then, we show that the contribution corresponding to Forster resonance energy transfer is inhibited.

Automated summary

We report the synthesis of hybrid light emitting particles with a diameter ranging from 100 to 500 nm, consisting of a compact CdSe/CdS/CdZnS semiconductor nanocrystal aggregate encapsulated by controlled nanometric size silica and gold layers. The addition of the gold nanoshell enhances the Purcell decay rate, as predicted by numerical simulations. Furthermore, we demonstrate the inhibition of Forster resonance energy transfer contribution.