Tuning Semiconducting and Metallic Quantum Dots

Book excerpt: Nanotechnology is one of the growing areas of this century, also opening new horizons for tuning optical properties. This book introduces basic tuning schemes, including those on a single quantum object level, with an emphasis on surface and interface manipulation of semiconducting and metallic quantum dots. There are two opposing demands in current forefront applications of quantum dots as optical labels, namely high luminescence stability (suppression of luminescence intermittency) and controllable intermittency and bleaching on a single-particle level to facilitate super-resolution optical microscopy (for which Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell, and William E. Moerner were awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry). The book discusses these contradictory demands with respect to both an understanding of the basic processes and applications. The chapters are a combination of scholarly presentation and comprehensive review and include case studies from the authors’ research, including unpublished results. Special emphasis is on a detailed understanding of spectroscopic and dynamic properties of semiconducting quantum dots. The book is suitable for senior undergraduates and researchers in the fields of optical nanoscience, materials science, and nanotechnology.