Excitation enhancement of CdSe quantum dots by single metal nanoparticles

We study plasmon-enhanced fluorescence from CdSe/CdS/CdZnS/ZnS core/shell quantum dots near a variety of Ag and Au nanoparticles. The photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectrum of quantum dots closely follows the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) scattering spectrum of the nanoparticles. We measure excitation enhancement factors of similar to 3 to 10 for different shapes of single metal nanoparticles.