Fluorescence decay enhancement and FRET inhibition in self-assembled hybrid gold CdSe/CdS/CdZnS colloidal nanocrystal supraparticles

Abstract

We report on the synthesis of hybrid light emitting particles with a diameter ranging between 100 and 500 nm, consisting in a compact semiconductor CdSe/CdS/CdZnS nanocrystal aggregate encapsulated by a controlled nanometric size silica and gold layers. We first characterize the Purcell decay rate enhancement corresponding to the addition of the gold nanoshell as a function of the particle size and find a good agreement with the predictions of numerical simulations. Then, we show that the contribution corresponding to Förster resonance energy transfer is inhibited.