Controllable photoluminescence enhancement of CdTe/CdS quantum dots thin films incorporation with Au nanoparticles

Au nanoparticles (Au NPs)/CdTe/CdS QDs nanocomposite films were fabricated by deposition of Au NPs and layer-by-layer self-assembly of colloidal CdTe/CdS QDs. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra showed that Au NPs incorporation resulted in an increase of PL intensity about 16-fold compared with that of the samples without Au NPs. PL enhancement of Au NPs/CdTe/CdS QDs nanocomposite films can be controlled by tuning the thickness of spacer layer between the metal nanoparticles (MNPs) and QDs. Optical absorption spectra exhibited the incorporation of Au NPs boosted the absorption of Au NPs/CdTe/CdS QDs nanocomposite films. The results of finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation indicated that the increased sizes of Au NPs resulted in stronger localization of electric field, which boosted the PL intensity of QDs in the vicinity of Au NPs. We thought that these were mainly attributed to localized SP enhancement effects of the Au NPs. Our experiment results demonstrated that Au NPs/QDs nanocomposite films would be a promising candidate for optoelectronic devices application. PACS 78.55.-m; 82.33.Ln; 68.65.Hb.