A new study New quantum dot study reveals implications for biological imaging involving researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago has taken an important step toward the synthesis of multifunctional photonic nanomaterials.
In a paper published in the American Chemical Society’s journal Nano Letters, they report the synthesis of semiconductor “large” core-shell quantum dots with record-breaking lifetimes. In addition, the lifetime can be adjusted by making simple changes in the internal structure of the material.
The group, which includes collaborators from Princeton University and Pennsylvania State University, presented a new structure-concept (New quantum dot study reveals implications for biological imaging) that allows to locate electrons or holes in the core/shell heterostructure by changing the kinetic energy of charge carrier and parabolic potential power up.
According to UIC chemist Preston Snee, this separation of charge carriers results in long radiative lifetimes in the atmosphere that continue at the single nanoparticle level.
“These tools enable new applications for optics, enable new methods such as time-of-the-moment displays, and create progress for the development of other advanced technologies,” Snee, who said a professor of chemistry at UIC. study.
Snee and the study’s first author, Marcell Pálmai, a UIC postdoctoral researcher in chemistry, teamed up with Princeton’s Haw Yang and others to induce quantum dots with light to enter the exciton state. The exciton is an electron/hole charge path, and the new material, the electron goes from the center to the shell, where it is trapped for more than 500 nanoseconds, which is a record for such nanomaterials.
“As light emitters, quantum dots promise to create efficient energy displays and can be used as fluorescent probes for biomedical research due to their strong optical properties. They absorb 10 to 100 times more than conventional dyes and almost no effect on image quality, which is why they are used in the new Samsung QLED-TV,” they write.
These new molecules have great potential for biological research, the researchers said.
The quantum dots in their paper appear in the red wavelength, which reduces dispersion, while the longer lifetime allows for green imaging with less noise. At the one-dimensional level, new quantum dots are emerging, so the researcher can call the proteins involved in cancer and follow the biological process without missing the signal, which is a common problem in many studies now.
In future research, the group plans to show that the materials are ideal for optical devices such as microscale lasers.
