Large-scale control of enhancement and quenching of photoluminescence for ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots and Ag nanoparticles in aqueous solution

We investigated the optical properties of hybrid exciton-plasmon coupling ensembles composed of ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots and Ag nanoparticles in aqueous solution. We modulated their average interval by changing the ratio of quantum dots and Ag nanoparticles. The transition from dramatic PL enhancement to PL quenching state was experimentally observed, according to the continuous decrease of the PL lifetime. The PL enhancement rate exceeded 10, with the Purcell factor of 3.5. Meanwhile, the proportion of fast decay increased from 0.3 to 0.6, corresponding to the proportion of slow decay decreased from 0.7 to 0.4. Our experiment is important for the hybrid exciton-plasmon coupling system to be practicable in optoelectronic application.