Optical Control of Fluorescence through Plasmonic Eigenmode Extinction

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how optical manipulation of plasmonic eigenmodes in gold nanostructures can control and enhance the fluorescence of quantum dots, enabling in situ spectral tuning.

Contribution

It introduces a novel optical method to control fluorescence via plasmon-induced structural changes in nanostructured gold films, allowing dynamic spectral tuning.

Findings

Fluorescence yield can be increased through optical extinction of specific eigenmodes.

Coupling between quantum dots and gold films depends on wavelength and polarization.

The method enables in situ, reversible control of fluorescence spectrum.

Abstract

We introduce the concept of optical control of the fluorescence yield of CdSe quantum dots through plasmon-induced structural changes in random semicontinuous nanostructured gold films. We demonstrate that the wavelength- and polarization dependent coupling between quantum dots and the semicontinuous films, and thus the fluorescent emission spectrum, can be controlled and significantly increased through the optical extinction of a selective band of eigenmodes in the films. This optical method of effecting controlled changes in the metal nanostructure allows for versatile functionality in a single sample and opens a pathway to in situ control over the fluorescence spectrum.