Spontaneous emission intensity and anisotropy of quantum dot films in proximity to nanoscale photonic–plasmonic templates

Abstract

We discuss results on spontaneous emission intensity and lifetime anisotropy of cadmium selenide quantum dot monolayer films placed in close proximity to a porous block copolymer based photonic–plasmonic two dimensional array. The porous block copolymer cylinders can be filled with metal nanoparticles and the concentration of these nanoparticles is varied to control both the photoluminescence intensity and lifetime of a layer of quantum dots placed above the template. Significant emission enhancement is achieved even for the quantum dot layer whose core lies about 1 nm above the template surface. Interestingly, polarised decay lifetime analysis indicates considerable emission anisotropy, as well for these quantum dots. Our results thus demonstrates how such hybrid optical materials can be created with controlled optical properties and suggests extension of this method to other novel two dimensional materials in combination with the photonic–plasmonic template.