Emission spectral properties of cadmium sulfide nanoparticles with multiphoton excitation

We describe the luminescence spectral properties of CdS nanoparticles with multiphoton excitation. Three types of CdS nanoparticles were examined which were a CdS/dendrimer composite which displays high anisotropy, Cd2+-enriched nanoparticles which display two emission maxima, and polyphosphate-stabilized nanoparticles which display long wavelength emission. Illumination with long wavelengths near 700-790 nm resulted in two-photon excitation. Essentially the same emission spectra and intensity decays were observed with one-photon and two-photon excitation. Comparison with fluorescein indicates the NPs display large two-photon cross sections near 100 GM. The CdS/dendrimer and Cd2+-enriched CdS nanoparticles displayed large anisotropy values with two-photon excitation, substantially larger than with one-photon excitation. It appears that semiconductor nanoparticles are comparable to organic fluorophores which display the same spectral properties with one-photon and two-photon excitation.