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Keitel R, Brechbühler R, Cocina A, Antolinez FV, Meyer SA, Vonk SJW, Rojo H, Rabouw FT, Norris DJ. Fluctuations in the Photoluminescence Excitation Spectra of Individual Semiconductor Nanocrystals. J Phys Chem Lett 2024; 15:4844-4850. [PMID: 38682807 PMCID: PMC11089566 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c00516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2024] [Revised: 04/07/2024] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
Most single quantum emitters display non-steady emission properties. Models that explain this effect have primarily relied on photoluminescence measurements that reveal variations in intensity, wavelength, and excited-state lifetime. While photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy could provide complementary information, existing experimental methods cannot collect spectra before individual emitters change in intensity (blink) or wavelength (spectrally diffuse). Here, we present an experimental approach that circumvents such issues, allowing the collection of excitation spectra from individual emitters. Using rapid modulation of the excitation wavelength, we collect and classify excitation spectra from individual CdSe/CdS/ZnS core/shell/shell quantum dots. The spectra, along with simultaneous time-correlated single-photon counting, reveal two separate emission-reduction mechanisms caused by charging and trapping, respectively. During bright emission periods, we also observe a correlation between emission red-shifts and the increased oscillator strength of higher excited states. Quantum-mechanical modeling indicates that diffusion of charges in the vicinity of an emitter polarizes the exciton and transfers the oscillator strength to higher-energy transitions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert
C. Keitel
- Optical
Materials Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process
Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Raphael Brechbühler
- Optical
Materials Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process
Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ario Cocina
- Optical
Materials Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process
Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Felipe V. Antolinez
- Optical
Materials Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process
Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Stefan A. Meyer
- Optical
Materials Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process
Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sander J. W. Vonk
- Optical
Materials Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process
Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
- Debye
Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht
University, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Henar Rojo
- Optical
Materials Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process
Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Freddy T. Rabouw
- Optical
Materials Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process
Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
- Debye
Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht
University, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - David J. Norris
- Optical
Materials Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process
Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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2
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Dana J, Haggag OS, Dehnel J, Mor M, Lifshitz E, Ruhman S. Testing the fate of nascent holes in CdSe nanocrystals with sub-10 fs pump-probe spectroscopy. NANOSCALE 2021; 13:1982-1987. [PMID: 33443522 DOI: 10.1039/d0nr07651a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Numerous studies have reported that transient absorption spectra in core CdSe nanocrystals do not register state filling in 1Sh, an absence which has profound consequences in light-emitting applications. It has been assigned alternatively to rapid hole trapping, or to distribution over a dense degenerate valence band manifold which includes dark states. Here we attempt to observe early contributions of nascent holes to the bleaching of the band edge exciton transition by conducting 1Se1Sh pump-1Se1Sh probe spectroscopy with <10 fs laser pulses on organic ligand passivated CdSe crystals. The results show no rapidly hole-state filling effects in transient absorption measurements even at the earliest delay, despite the use of pulses which are capable of resolving all dissipation mechanisms reflected in the homogeneous 1Se1Sh bandwidth. This proves that neither hole trapping nor rapid redistribution of the nascent hole over energetically available valence band states can explain the absence of hole contributions to band edge bleaching, calling for a mechanistic review of this phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayanta Dana
- The Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel.
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3
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Czerski J, Colomb W, Cannataro F, Sarkar SK. Spectroscopic identification of individual fluorophores using photoluminescence excitation spectra. J Microsc 2018; 270:261-271. [PMID: 29369365 DOI: 10.1111/jmi.12679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2017] [Revised: 11/25/2017] [Accepted: 12/17/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
The identity of a fluorophore can be ambiguous if other fluorophores or nonspecific fluorescent impurities have overlapping emission spectra. The presence of overlapping spectra makes it difficult to differentiate fluorescent species using discrete detection channels and unmixing of spectra. The unique absorption and emission signatures of fluorophores provide an opportunity for spectroscopic identification. However, absorption spectroscopy may be affected by scattering, whereas fluorescence emission spectroscopy suffers from signal loss by gratings or other dispersive optics. Photoluminescence excitation spectra, where excitation is varied and emission is detected at a fixed wavelength, allows hyperspectral imaging with a single emission filter for high signal-to-background ratio without any moving optics on the emission side. We report a high throughput method for measuring the photoluminescence excitation spectra of individual fluorophores using a tunable supercontinuum laser and prism-type total internal reflection fluorescence microscope. We used the system to measure and sort the photoluminescence excitation spectra of individual Alexa dyes, fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs), and fluorescent polystyrene beads. We used a Gaussian mixture model with maximum likelihood estimation to objectively separate the spectra. Finally, we spectroscopically identified different species of fluorescent nanodiamonds with overlapping spectra and characterized the heterogeneity of fluorescent nanodiamonds of varying size.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Czerski
- Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado, U.S.A
| | - W Colomb
- Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado, U.S.A
| | - F Cannataro
- Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado, U.S.A
| | - S K Sarkar
- Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado, U.S.A
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4
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Streiter M, Krause S, von Borczyskowski C, Deibel C. Dynamics of Single-Molecule Stokes Shifts: Influence of Conformation and Environment. J Phys Chem Lett 2016; 7:4281-4284. [PMID: 27733039 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b02102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
We report on time-dependent Stokes shift measurements of single molecules. Excitation and emission spectroscopy were applied to study the temporal Stokes shift evolution of single perylene diimide molecules embedded in a polymer matrix on the time scale of seconds. The Stokes shift varied between individual molecules as well as for single molecules undergoing different conformations and geometries. From the distribution and temporal evolution of Stokes shifts, we unravel the interplay of nanoenvironment and molecular conformation. We found that Stokes shift fluctuations are related to simultaneous and unidirectional shifts of both emission and excitation spectra.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Streiter
- Institut für Physik, Technische Universität Chemnitz , 09126 Chemnitz, Germany
| | - Stefan Krause
- Institut für Physik, Technische Universität Chemnitz , 09126 Chemnitz, Germany
| | | | - Carsten Deibel
- Institut für Physik, Technische Universität Chemnitz , 09126 Chemnitz, Germany
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5
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Stopel MHW, Blum C, Subramaniam V. Excitation Spectra and Stokes Shift Measurements of Single Organic Dyes at Room Temperature. J Phys Chem Lett 2014; 5:3259-3264. [PMID: 26276342 DOI: 10.1021/jz501536a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
We report measurements of excitation and emission spectra of single, polymer-embedded, perylene dye molecules at room temperature. From these measurements, we can derive the Stokes shift for each single molecule. We determined the distribution of excitation and emission peak energies and, thus, the distribution of single molecule Stokes shifts. Single molecule Stokes shifts have not been recorded to date, and the Stokes shift has often been assumed to be constant in single molecule studies. Our data show that the observed spectral heterogeneity in single molecule emission originates not only from synchronous energetic shifts of the excitation and the emission spectra but also from variations in the Stokes shift, speaking against the assumption of constant Stokes shift.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martijn H W Stopel
- †Nanobiophysics, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Christian Blum
- †Nanobiophysics, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
| | - Vinod Subramaniam
- †Nanobiophysics, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
- ‡Nanobiophysics, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
- §FOM Institute AMOLF, 104 Science Park, 1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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6
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Peter S, Zell MB, Blum C, Stuhl A, Elgass K, Sackrow M, Subramaniam V, Meixner AJ, Harter K, Maurino VG, Schleifenbaum FE. Photosynthesis in a different light: spectro-microscopy for in vivo characterization of chloroplasts. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2014; 5:292. [PMID: 25071790 PMCID: PMC4082301 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2014.00292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2013] [Accepted: 06/04/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
During photosynthesis, energy conversion at the two photosystems is controlled by highly complex and dynamic adaptation processes triggered by external factors such as light quality, intensity, and duration, or internal cues such as carbon availability. These dynamics have remained largely concealed so far, because current analytical techniques are based on the investigation of isolated chloroplasts lacking full adaptation ability and are performed at non-physiologically low temperatures. Here, we use non-invasive in planta spectro-microscopic approaches to investigate living chloroplasts in their native environment at ambient temperatures. This is a valuable approach to study the complex function of these systems, because an intrinsic property-the fluorescence emission-is exploited and no additional external perturbations are introduced. Our analysis demonstrates a dynamic adjustment of not only the photosystemI/photosystemII (PSI/PSII) intensity ratio in the chloroplasts but also of the capacity of the LHCs for energy transfer in response to environmental and internal cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Peter
- Department of Plant Physiology, Center for Plant Molecular Biology (ZMBP), University of TübingenTübingen, Germany
| | - Martina B. Zell
- Biocenter Cologne, Botanical Institute, University of CologneCologne, Germany
| | - Christian Blum
- Nanobiophysics Group and MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of TwenteEnschede, Netherlands
| | - Alexander Stuhl
- Department of Nano Optics, Insitute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of TübingenTübingen, Germany
| | - Kirstin Elgass
- Department of Plant Physiology, Center for Plant Molecular Biology (ZMBP), University of TübingenTübingen, Germany
| | - Marcus Sackrow
- Department of Nano Optics, Insitute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of TübingenTübingen, Germany
| | - Vinod Subramaniam
- Nanobiophysics Group and MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of TwenteEnschede, Netherlands
- Department of Nanoscale Biophysics, FOM Institute AMOLFAmsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Alfred J. Meixner
- Department of Nano Optics, Insitute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of TübingenTübingen, Germany
| | - Klaus Harter
- Department of Plant Physiology, Center for Plant Molecular Biology (ZMBP), University of TübingenTübingen, Germany
| | - Veronica G. Maurino
- Biocenter Cologne, Botanical Institute, University of CologneCologne, Germany
- Plant Molecular Physiology and Biotechnology Group, Institut of Developmental and Molecular Biology of Plants, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences, Heinrich-Heine-UniversitätDüsseldorf, Germany
| | - Frank E. Schleifenbaum
- Department of Plant Physiology, Center for Plant Molecular Biology (ZMBP), University of TübingenTübingen, Germany
- Department of Nano Optics, Insitute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of TübingenTübingen, Germany
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Abstract
Multimodal fluorescence imaging is a versatile method that has a wide application range from biological studies to materials science. Typical observables in multimodal fluorescence imaging are intensity, lifetime, excitation, and emission spectra which are recorded at chosen locations at the sample. This chapter describes how to build instrumentation that allows for multimodal fluorescence imaging and explains data analysis procedures for the observables.
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8
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Stopel MHW, Prangsma JC, Blum C, Subramaniam V. Blinking statistics of colloidal quantum dots at different excitation wavelengths. RSC Adv 2013. [DOI: 10.1039/c3ra43637c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
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9
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Hennemann LE, Kolloch A, Kern A, Mihaljevic J, Boneberg J, Leiderer P, Meixner AJ, Zhang D. Assessing the plasmonics of gold nano-triangles with higher order laser modes. BEILSTEIN JOURNAL OF NANOTECHNOLOGY 2012; 3:674-83. [PMID: 23213631 PMCID: PMC3512117 DOI: 10.3762/bjnano.3.77] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2012] [Accepted: 09/10/2012] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Regular arrays of metallic nano-triangles - so called Fischer patterns - are fabricated by nano-sphere lithography. We studied such gold nano-triangle arrays on silicon or glass substrates. A series of different samples was investigated with a parabolic mirror based confocal microscope where the sample is scanned through the laser focus. By employing higher order laser modes (azimuthally and radially polarised laser beams), we can excite the Fischer patterns using either a pure in-plane (x,y) electric field or a strongly z-directional (optical axis of the optical microscope) electric field. We collected and evaluated the emitted luminescence and thereby investigated the respectively excited plasmonic modes. These varied considerably: firstly with the light polarisation in the focus, secondly with the aspect ratio of the triangles and thirdly with the employed substrate. Moreover, we obtained strongly enhanced Raman spectra of an adenine (sub-)monolayer on gold Fischer patterns on glass. We thus showed that gold Fischer patterns are promising surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura E Hennemann
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 15, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Andreas Kolloch
- Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Andreas Kern
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 15, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Josip Mihaljevic
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 15, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Johannes Boneberg
- Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Paul Leiderer
- Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Alfred J Meixner
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 15, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Dai Zhang
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 15, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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