Control of photoinduced fluorescence enhancement of colloidal quantum dots using metal oxides

It is well known that irradiation of colloidal quantum dots can dramatically enhance their emission efficiencies, leading to so-called photoinduced fluorescence enhancement (PFE). This process is the result of the photochemical and photophysical properties of quantum dots and the way they interact with the environment in the presence of light. It has been shown that such properties can be changed significantly using metal oxides. Using spectroscopic techniques, in this paper we investigate emission of different types of quantum dots (with and without shell) in the presence of metal oxides with opposing effects. We observed significant increase of PFE when quantum dots are deposited on about one nanometer of aluminum oxide, suggesting such oxide can profoundly increase quantum yield of such quantum dots. On the other hand, copper oxide can lead to significant suppression of emission of quantum dots, making them nearly completely dark instantly.