“Giant” Multishell CdSe Nanocrystal Quantum Dots with Suppressed Blinking

Semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots (NQDs) comprise an important class of inorganic fluorophores for applications from optoelectronics to biology. Unfortunately, to date, NQD optical properties (e.g., their efficient and particle-size-tunable photoluminescence) have been susceptible to instabilities at the bulk and single-particle levels. Specifically, ensemble quantum yields (QYs) in emission are dependent upon NQD surface chemistry and chemical environment, while at the single-particle level, NQDs are characterized by significant fluorescence intermittency (blinking) that hinders applications as single-photon light sources for quantum informatics and biolabels for real-time monitoring of single…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• NN
  National Nuclear Security Administration