Enhanced fluorescence properties of type-I and type-II CdTe/CdS quantum dots using porous silver membrane

Abstract This paper reports the metal-induced fluorescence property on the CdTe/CdS core/shell quantum dots (QDs), which exhibit the systematic band-gap transition from type-I to type-II with increasing shell thickness, near porous silver membrane by using time-resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). The results revealed that notable fluorescence enhancement came from the closed location to the cavity of the porous silver metal due to an increase in the local electromagnetic fields at the cavity. In the cases of the type-II CdTe/CdS QDs, interestingly, multiple exciton generation can be an additional factor for the lifetime reduction and fluorescence amplification compared to the type-I QDs. Without CdS shell, the strong interaction between the bare core CdTe QDs and silver caused emission quenching.