Metal-enhanced luminescence of silicon quantum dots: effects of nanoparticles and molecular electron donors and acceptors on the photofading kinetics

Abstract

Alkyl-capped silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) show enhanced luminescence when drop cast as films on glass slides in mixtures with Ag or Au nanoparticles or the electron donor ferrocene (Fc). Metal enhancement of quantum dot photoluminescence (PL) is known to arise from a combination of the intense near-field associated with the surface plasmon of the metal on the rate of absorption and the decrease in the lifetime of the excited state. Here we present evidence that an additional factor is also involved: electron transfer from the metal to the quantum dot. Under CW irradiation with an argon ion laser at 488 nm, SiQDs undergo a reversible photofading of the PL as the particles photoionize. A steady-state condition is established by the competition between photoionization and electron–hole recombination. The fading of the initial PL I0 to the steady-state value can be modelled by a simple first order decay with a lognormal distribution of rates, which reflects the heterogeneity of the sample. In the presence of Ag and Au nanoparticles, the modal rate constants of photofading increase by factors of up to 4-fold and the ratio decreases by factors up to 5-fold; this is consistent with an increase in the rate of electron–hole recombination facilitated by the metal nanoparticles acting as sources of electrons. Further support for this interpretation comes from the enhancement in PL observed in photofading experiments with films of SiQDs mixed with Fc; this compound is a well-known one-electron donor, but shows no plasmon band which complicates the estimation of PL enhancement with Ag NPs.