Fluorescence enhancement with one-dimensional photonic crystals/nanoscaled ZnO composite thin films

Abstract

Abstract One-dimensional photonic crystals (1DPCs)/nanoscaled ZnO particles composite thin films were fabricated with spin-coating technique. Organic dyes, whose emission wavelengths overlap the photonic stopbands of the selected 1DPCs, were deposited on the surface of the 1DPCs films with spin-coating technique. The fluorescence of the organic dyes deposited on 1DPCs/nanoscaled ZnO composite thin films was obviously enhanced in comparison with that on 1DPCs films or ZnO films. Otherwise, the nanoscaled ZnO particles were modified with Poly (sodium 4-styrebesulfonate) (PSS) and Poly (allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) by self-assembly, and we found a novel phenomenon was observed that the thickness of PSS and PAH had relationship with the effect of fluorescence enhancement. The results show that the 1DPCs/nanoscaled ZnO composite thin films have potential applications in the highly sensitive fluorescence-based detection and optoelectronic devices.