Quantifying local density of optical states of nanorods by fluorescence lifetime imaging

In this letter, we demonstrate a facile far-field approach to quantify the near-field local density of optical states (LDOS) of a nanorod using CdTe quantum dots (QDs) emitters tethered to the surface of nanorods as beacons for optical read-outs. Radiative decay rate was extracted to quantify the LDOS; our analysis indicates that the LDOS of the nanorod enhance both the radiative and nonradiative decay of QD, particularly radiative decay of QDs at the end of nanorod is enhanced by 1.17 times greater than that at the waist, while the nonradiative decay was uniformly enhanced over the nanorod. To the best of our knowledge, our effort constitutes the first to map the LDOS of a nanostructure via far-field method, to provide clarity on the interaction mechanism between emitters and the nanostructure, and to be potentially employed in the LDOS mapping of high-throughput nanostructures.