Abstract

Single-molecule spectroscopy combined with atomic force microscopy measurements reveal that CdSe quantum dots functionalized with oligo-phenylene vinylene (OPV) ligands exhibit enhanced optical properties such as reduced blinking. The magnitude of blinking suppression is shown to be highly sensitive to the degree of ligand coverage on the quantum dot surface. This effect is interpreted as resulting from charge transport from photoexcited OPV into vacant trap sites on the quantum dot surface and suggests exciting new applications of composite quantum dot/organic systems in optoelectronic systems.

© 2006 Optical Society of America