Cryogenic Correlative Single-Particle Photoluminescence Spectroscopy and Electron Tomography for Investigation of Nanomaterials

Cryogenic single-particle photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy has been used with great success to directly observe the heterogeneous photophysical states present in a population of luminescent particles. Cryogenic electron tomography provides complementary nanometer scale structural information to PL spectroscopy, but the two techniques have not been correlated due to technical challenges. Here, we present a method for correlating single-particle information from these two powerful microscopy modalities. We simultaneously observe PL brightness, emission spectrum, and in-plane excitation dipole orientation of CdSSe/ZnS quantum dots suspended in vitreous ice. Stable and fluctuating emitters were observed, as well as a surprising splitting of the PL spectrum into two bands with an average energy separation of 80 meV. In some cases, the onset of the splitting corresponded to changes in the in-plane excitation dipole orientation. These dynamics were assigned to structures of individual quantum dots and the excitation dipoles were visualized in the context of structural features.     

硅烯量子点二聚物的等离激元激发

基于含时密度泛函理论,研究了随着间距改变时硅烯量子点二聚物的等离激元激发特性。沿垂直于硅烯所在平面方向激发时,在一定间距范围内,硅烯量子点二聚物中形成了长程电荷转移激发模式。参与长程电荷转移激发的π电子主要在两个量子点之间运动。该等离激元模式随着间隙的减小发生蓝移。此外,在不同间距时,体系中还有两个等离激元共振带,分别位于7和15 eV附近。沿平行于硅烯所在平面方向激发时,由于两个量子点之间的耦合,在低能     

Coherent Magnetic Resonance of Nanocrystal Quantum‐Dot Luminescence as a Window to Blinking Mechanisms

Blinking of colloidal nanocrystal quantum dots, random intermittency in the stream of photons emitted by single particles, has long commanded the curiosity of researchers. Why does the particle suddenly shut off, and what are the pathways to quench emission? Single‐particle microscopy is not the only way to approach these fundamental questions on the interaction of light and matter: time‐domain sub‐ensemble spectroscopies can also yield relevant information on microscopic electronic processes. We illustrate recent advances in pulsed optically detected magnetic resonance and highlight the conceptual relevance to unravelling mechanisms controlling intermittency on the single‐particle level. Magnetic resonance reveals two distinct luminescence quenching channels, which appear to be related to those previously surmised from single‐particle studies: a trapped charge‐separated state in which the exciton is quenched by dissociation and the particle remains neutral; and a charged state of the particle in which spin‐dependent Auger recombination quenches luminescence.     

Single‐Nanoparticle Cell Barcoding by Tunable FRET from Lanthanides to Quantum Dots

Fluorescence barcoding based on nanoparticles provides many advantages for multiparameter imaging. However, creating different concentration‐independent codes without mixing various nanoparticles and by using single‐wavelength excitation and emission for multiplexed cellular imaging is extremely challenging. Herein, we report the development of quantum dots (QDs) with two different SiO₂ shell thicknesses (6 and 12 nm) that are coated with two different lanthanide complexes (Tb and Eu). FRET from the Tb or Eu donors to the QD acceptors resulted in four distinct photoluminescence (PL) decays, which were encoded by simple time‐gated (TG) PL intensity detection in three individual temporal detection windows. The well‐defined single‐nanoparticle codes were used for live cell imaging and a one‐measurement distinction of four different cells in a single field of view. This single‐color barcoding strategy opens new opportunities for multiplexed labeling and tracking of cells.     

Red,Green, and Blue Luminescence by Carbon Dots: Full‐Color Emission Tuning and Multicolor Cellular Imaging

A facile approach for preparation of photoluminescent (PL) carbon dots (CDs) is reported. The three resulting CDs emit bright and stable red, green and blue (RGB) colors of luminescence, under a single ultraviolet‐light excitation. Alterations of PL emission of these CDs are tentatively proposed to result from the difference in their particle size and nitrogen content. Interestingly, up‐conversion (UC)PL of these CDs is also observed. Moreover, flexible full‐color emissive PVA films can be achieved through mixing two or three CDs in the appropriate ratios. These CDs also show low cytotoxicity and excellent cellular imaging capability. The facile preparation and unique optical features make these CDs potentially useful in numerous applications such as light‐emitting diodes, full‐color displays, and multiplexed (UC)PL bioimaging.     

Red,Green, and Blue Luminescence by Carbon Dots: Full‐Color Emission Tuning and Multicolor Cellular Imaging

A facile approach for preparation of photoluminescent (PL) carbon dots (CDs) is reported. The three resulting CDs emit bright and stable red, green and blue (RGB) colors of luminescence, under a single ultraviolet‐light excitation. Alterations of PL emission of these CDs are tentatively proposed to result from the difference in their particle size and nitrogen content. Interestingly, up‐conversion (UC)PL of these CDs is also observed. Moreover, flexible full‐color emissive PVA films can be achieved through mixing two or three CDs in the appropriate ratios. These CDs also show low cytotoxicity and excellent cellular imaging capability. The facile preparation and unique optical features make these CDs potentially useful in numerous applications such as light‐emitting diodes, full‐color displays, and multiplexed (UC)PL bioimaging.     

表面活性剂对CdSe量子点荧光性能的影响

通过添加不同类型的表面活性剂在水相中制备了CdSe量子点。用透射电子显微镜(TEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)、X-射线光电子能谱(XPS)对其进行了表征,并用紫外-可见(UV-Vis)和荧光(PL)分光光度法研究了不同类型的表面活性剂对CdSe量子点吸收光谱和荧光光谱的影响。结果表明,加入长链的非离子型和阴离子型表面活性剂制备的CdSe量子点颗粒只有几个纳米,分散性好,量子点的荧光强度也有明显的增强,而加入阳离子表面活性剂制备的量子点颗粒团聚明显,其荧光出现淬灭。     

Colloidal CsPbBr3 Perovskite Nanocrystals: Luminescence beyond Traditional Quantum Dots

Traditional CdSe‐based colloidal quantum dots (cQDs) have interesting photoluminescence (PL) properties. Herein we highlight the advantages in both ensemble and single‐nanocrystal PL of colloidal CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals (NCs) over the traditional cQDs. An ensemble of colloidal CsPbBr₃ NCs (11 nm) exhibits ca. 90 % PL quantum yield with narrow (FWHM=86 meV) spectral width. Interestingly, the spectral width of a single‐NC and an ensemble are almost identical, ruling out the problem of size‐distribution in PL broadening. Eliminating this problem leads to a negligible influence of self‐absorption and Förster resonance energy transfer, along with batch‐to‐batch reproducibility of NCs exhibiting PL peaks within ±1 nm. Also, PL peak positions do not alter with measurement temperature in the range of 25 to 100 °C. Importantly, CsPbBr₃ NCs exhibit suppressed PL blinking with ca. 90 % of the individual NCs remain mostly emissive (on‐time >85 %), without much influence of excitation power.     

Nanoparticle morphology and aspect ratio effects in Ag/PVDF nanocomposites

Optical response in silver/polyvinylidene fluoride nanocomposite materials with nonspherical inclusions was examined using direct dipolar interband transitions, from density functional theory. We discuss here the dependence of the optical response of the material on the geometry, crystallographic makeup and end-cap morphology of the metallic inclusions, as well as on their orientation relative to the polarization direction of the applied electromagnetic field. Each periodic unit cell contained a single inclusion and a polymer matrix; thus, the composite behaved as a monodisperse, perfectly oriented material. Overall, the spectral location of the composite excitation spectrum was tied to that of the metallic inclusions and correlated well to quantum confinement models for the direction of polarization: As linear size of the inclusion increased in a given direction, the excitation spectrum of light polarized in that direction was red-shifted. The effect of the polymer matrix was also examined. Coulomb repulsion from matrix energy states led to splitting of nanoparticle-based energy levels, and the matrix conduction band became involved in high-energy transitions. These effects led to extensions of the spectra of nanocomposites with less stable {100}–basal plane inclusions to very low excitation energies. Attenuation or redshifting of nanoparticle peaks with high photon energies was also observed for materials with small linear sizes along the excitation direction. Comparisons with experimental and time-dependent density functional theory results suggest that estimating the complex dielectric constant from interband transition dipole moments, in a time-independent fashion, provides reliable qualitative spectra for these systems.     

Carbon quantum dots from natural resource: A review

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are a new class of fluorescence small carbon nanoparticles with a particle size of less than 10 nm and have vast applications in the field of bioimaging, biosensing and disease-detection. These are promising materials for nano-biotechnology since it has smaller particle size, excellent biocompatibility and excitation wavelength dependent photoluminescence (PL) behavior, photo induced electron transfer, chemical inertness and low toxicity. These materials have excellent fluorescent properties such as broad excitation spectra, narrow and tunable emission spectra, and high photostability against photo bleaching and blinking than other fluorescent semiconductor quantum dots. This review article demonstrate the recent progress in the synthesis, functionalization and technical applications of carbon quantum dots using electrochemical oxidation, combustion/thermal, chemical change, microwave heating, arc-discharge, and laser ablation methods from various natural resources. Natural carbon sources are used for the preparation of CQDs due to its low cost, environmental friendly and widely available.     

Effect of graphene quantum dots on photoluminescence property of polyvinyl butyral nanocomposite

Design and development of new photoluminescence system are much in demand for various engineering and technological applications. The present investigation focused on the influence of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) dispersion in the polyvinyl butyral (PVB) matrix. The structural and chemical interaction of GQD‐dispersed PVB composites was confirmed by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), micro‐Raman spectroscopy, ultraviolet and visible (UV‐Vis), and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. Chemical interaction between the functional groups leads to PL quenching at 455 nm. Changes on crystallite size and interplanar spacing hinders on the structural properties of the nanocomposite. Raman spectroscopy reveals the decrease in D/G intensity ratio influenced by GQD loading wt% in the polymer system. The dispersion and occupied network of GQD in the PVB matrix was confirmed by optical polarizing microscopy (OPM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Effect of electrical conductivity of composites as a function of temperature has been verified. Decrease in direct bandgap as a function of GQD loading confirms the promising PL properties of the prepared composite system. Thus GQD‐derived composites may further be developed as a membrane for improved PL property.     

Electronic polarization spectroscopy of metal phthalocyanine chloride compounds in superfluid helium droplets

We report the electronic polarization spectroscopy of two metal phthalocyanine chloride compounds (MPcCl, M=Al,Ga) embedded in superfluid helium droplets and oriented in a dc electric field. For both compounds, the laser induced fluorescence spectra show preference for perpendicular excitation relative to the orientation field. This result indicates that the permanent dipoles of both compounds are predominantly perpendicular to the transition dipole. Since the permanent dipole derives from the metal chloride, while the transition dipole derives from the phthalocyanine chromophore, in the plane of phthalocyanine, this qualitative result is not surprising. However, quantitative modeling reveals that this intuitive model is inadequate and that the transition dipole might have tilted away from the molecular plane of phthalocyanine. The out of plane component of the transition dipole amounts to approximately 10% if the permanent dipole is assumed to be approximately 4 debye. The origin for this tilt is puzzling, and we tentatively attribute it to the transition of nonbonding orbitals, either from the chlorine atom or from the bridge nitrogen atom, to the pi* orbitals of the phthalocyanine chromophore. On the other hand, although unlikely, we cannot completely exclude the possibility that both our high level density functional theory calculation and ab initio results severely deviate from reality. The droplet matrix induces redshifts in the origin of the electronic transition and produces discrete phonon wings. Nevertheless, in dc electric fields, all phonon wings and the zero phonon line demonstrate the same dependence on the polarization direction of the excitation laser. Although electronic excitation does couple to the superfluid helium matrix and the resulting phonon wings add complications to the electronic spectrum, this coupling does not affect the direction of the electronic transition dipole. Electronic polarization spectroscopy in superfluid helium droplets is thus still informative in revealing the permanent dipole and its relation relative to the transition dipole.     

Observation of the Low‐Frequency Spectrum of the Water Dimer as a Sensitive Test of the Water Dimer Potential and Dipole Moment Surfaces

Using the helium nanodroplet isolation setup at the ultrabright free‐electron laser source FELIX in Nijmegen (BoHeNDI@FELIX), the intermolecular modes of water dimer in the frequency region from 70 to 550 cm^?1 were recorded. Observed bands were assigned to donor torsion, acceptor wag, acceptor twist, intermolecular stretch, donor torsion overtone, and in‐plane and out‐of‐plane librational modes. This experimental data set provides a sensitive test for state‐of‐the‐art water potentials and dipole moment surfaces. Theoretical calculations of the IR spectrum are presented using high‐level quantum and approximate quasiclassical molecular dynamics approaches. These calculations use the full‐dimensional ab initio WHHB potential and dipole moment surfaces. Based on the experimental data, a considerable increase of the acceptor switch and a bifurcation tunneling splitting in the librational mode is deduced, which is a consequence of the effective decrease in the tunneling barrier.     

氨基功能化石墨烯量子点表面缺陷钝化及其发光增强

通过酸氧化法将氧化石墨烯进一步“切割”制备石墨烯量子点（GQDs）,在100℃水热条件下,用氨水处理石墨烯量子点制备得到氨基功能化石墨烯量子点（N-GQDs）。傅里叶变换红外光谱证明NH₃可以有效地进攻环氧基碳和羧基碳,形成羟胺和酰胺基。原子力显微镜结果表明NH₃不仅能够有助于产生更小的量子点,还对石墨烯纳米片有致孔作用。氨基功能化之后,由于C-O-C相关的n-π^*跃迁受到抑制,N-GQDs发光具有更弱的激发波长依赖性,并使其荧光量子产率从0.3%提高至9.6%。时间分辨发光光谱表明,相比含氧基团,含氮基团相关的局域电子激发态具有更长的荧光寿命和更弱的发射光谱依赖性。     

Spectral quantum beating in mixed frequency/time-domain coherent multidimensional spectroscopy

Coherent multidimensional spectroscopy performed in the mixed frequency/time domain exhibits both temporal and spectral quantum beating when two quantum states are simultaneously excited. The excitation of both quantum states can occur because either the spectral width of the states or the excitation pulse exceeds the frequency separation of the quantum states. The quantum beating appears as a line that broadens and splits into two peaks and then recombines as the time delay between excitation pulses increases. The splitting depends on the spectral width of the excitation pulses. We observe the spectral quantum beating between the two nearly degenerate asymmetric carbonyl stretch modes in a nickel tricarbonyl chelate using the nonrephasing, ground state bleaching coherence pathway in triply vibrationally enhanced four-wave mixing as the time delay between the first two excitation pulses changes.     

Light microscopy with doughnut modes: a concept to detect, characterize, and manipulate individual nanoobjects

Higher order laser modes, mainly called doughnut modes (DMs) have use in many different branches of research, such as, bio-imaging, material science, single-molecule microscopy, and spectroscopy. The main reason of their increasing importance is that recently, the techniques to generate well-defined DMs have been refined or rediscovered. Although their potential is still not fully utilized, their specifically polarized field distribution gives rise to a wide field of applications. They are contributing to complete our fundamental knowledge of the optical properties of single emitting species, such as molecules, nanoparticles, or quantum dots, offering insight into the three-dimensional dipole or particle orientation in space. The perfect zero intensity in the focus center qualifies some DMs for stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy. For the same reason, they have been suggested for trapping and tweezing applications.     

Optical imaging of excited-state tautomerization in single molecules

Tautomerism process of single fluorescent molecules was studied by means of confocal microscopy in combination with azimuthally or radially polarized laser beams. During a tautomerism process the transition dipole moment (TDM) of a molecule changes its orientation which can be visualized by the fluorescence excitation image of the molecule. We present experimental and theoretical studies of two porphyrazine-type molecules and one type of porphyrin molecule: a symmetrically substituted metal-free phthalocyanine and porphyrin, and nonsymmetrically substituted porphyrazine. In the case of phthalocyanine the fluorescence excitation patterns show that the angle between the transition dipole moments of the two tautomeric forms is near 90°, in agreement with quantum chemical calculations. For porphyrazine we find that the orientation change of the TDM is less than 60° or larger than 120°, as theoretically predicted. Most of the porphyrin molecules show no photoinduced tautomerization, while for 7% of the total number of investigated molecules we observed excitation patterns of two different trans forms of the same single molecule. We demonstrate for the first time that a molecule, undergoing a tautomerism process stays in one tautomeric trans conformation during a time comparable with the acquisition time of one excitation pattern. This allowed us to visualize the existence of each of the two trans forms of one single porphyrin molecule, as well as the sudden switching between these tautomers.     

High-efficiency carrier multiplication and ultrafast charge separation in semiconductor nanocrystals studied via time-resolved photoluminescence

We demonstrate novel methods for the study of multiple exciton generation from a single photon absorption event (carrier multiplication) in semiconductor nanocrystals (or nanocrystal quantum dots) that are complementary to our previously reported transient absorption method. By monitoring the time dependence of photoluminescence (PL) from CdSe nanocrystals via time-correlated single photon counting, we find that carrier multiplication is observable due to the Auger decay of biexcitons. We compare these data with similar studies using transient absorption and find that the two methods give comparable results. In addition to the observation of dynamical signatures of carrier multiplication due to the Auger decay, we observe spectral signatures of multiple excitons produced from the absorption of a single photon. PL spectra at short times following excitation with high-energy photons are red-shifted compared to the single-exciton emission band, which is consistent with previous observations of significant exciton-exciton interactions in nanocrystals. We then show using a combination of transient absorption and time-resolved PL studies that charge transfer between a nanocrystal and a Ru-based catalyst model compound takes place on a time scale that is faster than Auger recombination time constants, which points toward a possible design of donor-acceptor assemblies that can be utilized to take advantage of the carrier multiplication process.     

FTIR-ATR studies of drawing and poling in polymer bilaminate films

A large increase in the remnant polarization of drawn and poled poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVF₂)/nylon 11 bilaminates compared with the individual films observed in other studies provides the motivation for the examination of dipole orientation in variously treated single and bilaminate films with FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. Four ATR spectra are collected from each surface using two sample orientations and two light polarizations for each incident light angle. The incident light angle is varied to obtain information about the change in structure with depth. Computer simulations of the experimental optics using anisotropic optical constants aides in the interpretation of experimental results. As the result of simple one-way drawing in PVF₂ and nylon 11, anisotropy in dipole orientation is observed in the plane transverse to the draw direction. In both single and bilaminate films, the average direction of the amide plane in nylon 11 and the CF₂ dipoles in PVF₂ resides in the plane of the film, perpendicular to the subsequent poling field direction as a result of one-way drawing. The transverse plane orientation is depth dependent in nylon 11 in both single and bilaminate films and is attributed to a surface-induced effect. Poling fields of 1.6 MV/cm produce large differences between the surfaces of single films and the bilaminates. At the interior interface of the drawn and poled bilaminates, the PVF₂ and nylon 11 dipoles important in polarization appear to be random. The structural implications of this as well as other observations from the spectra are interpreted in terms of the large remnant bulk polarization in the poled bilaminate. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.