Plasmonic giant semiconductor nanocrystals with enhanced light output and suppressed blinking for biomedical applications

Hybrid semiconductor-metal nanoparticles are of both fundamental and practical interest. CdSe semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots (NQDs) are emissive following direct absorption of photons, while nanosized metal structures exhibit plasmonic absorption and light scattering. In a hybrid nanoscale architecture, both optical phenomena can be integrated as metal-semiconductor coupling via non-radiative energy transfer and modifications of the radiative decay rates through Purcell effect, alter the emission mechanism resulting in a range of effects from photoluminescence (PL) quenching to enhancement.