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Updated: Apr 28, 2026
Correlative Light- and Electron Microscopy Using Quantum Dot Nanoparticles
Published on: August 7, 2016
Use of colloidal quantum dots as a digitally switched swept light source for gold nanoparticle based hyperspectral
Kazunori Hoshino1, Pratixa P Joshi2, Gauri Bhave2
1Biomedical Engineering Department, University of Connecticut, 260 Glenbrook Rd Unit 3247, Storrs, Connecticut 06269-3247, USA.
Abstract:
We propose a method to utilize colloidal quantum dots (QDs) as a swept light source for hyperspectral microscopy. The use of QD allows for uniform multicolor emission which covers visible-NIR wavelengths. We used 8 colors of CdSe/ZnS and CdTe/ZnS colloidal quantum dots with the peak emission wavelengths from 520 nm to 800 nm. The QDs are packed in a compact enclosure, composing a low-cost, solid-state swept light source that can be easily used in most microscopes. Multicolor emission from the QDs is simply controlled by digitally switching excitation UVLEDs, eliminating the use of mechanically-driven gratings or filters. We used gold nanoparticles as optical markers for hyperspectral microscopy. Due to the effect of localized surface plasmon resonance, gold nanoparticles demonstrate size and shape-dependent absorption spectra. Employed in a standard microscope, the QD light source enabled multispectral absorption imaging of macrophage cells labeled with gold nanorods and nanospheres.
