Acid-free sol-gel fabrication of glass thin films embedded with II-VI colloidal quantum dots

Hemang P. Jani; Lingze Duan

doi:10.1117/1.JNP.9.093072

20 May 2015 Acid-free sol-gel fabrication of glass thin films embedded with II-VI colloidal quantum dots

Hemang P. Jani, Lingze Duan

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Nanophotonics, Vol. 9, Issue 1, 093072 (May 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JNP.9.093072

Abstract

II-VI colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are ideal for optical sensors thanks to their high fluorescent brightness and good size uniformity. However, embedding colloidal QDs into a glass matrix with the standard sol-gel process leads to the QDs being damaged by the acid catalyst. Here, we report an acid-free sol-gel technique, which proves to be both simple and effective in fabricating silica glass thin films embedded with commercial II-VI colloidal QDs. Octadecylamine ligands are used as a bifunctional aid to not only stabilize the QDs in solution, but also assist the formation of the SiO₂ gel. We demonstrate that high-quality QD-embedded glass thin films can be developed with this technique, and our fluorescent tests indicate that, except for a small blueshift in the emission spectrum, the QDs are very well preserved through the sol-gel process. This method offers a fast and low-cost path towards thin-film QD sensors with good mechanical and thermal stabilities, which are desirable for applications involving highly focused laser beams, such as ultrafast nanophotonics.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

Citation Download Citation

Hemang P. Jani and Lingze Duan "Acid-free sol-gel fabrication of glass thin films embedded with II-VI colloidal quantum dots," Journal of Nanophotonics 9(1), 093072 (20 May 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JNP.9.093072

Published: 20 May 2015

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

JOURNAL ARTICLE
7 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

KEYWORDS

Sol-gels

Thin films

Glasses

Quantum dots

Luminescence

Fabrication

Coating

Show All Keywords

RELATED CONTENT

Development of a submicrometer optical chemical sensor
Proceedings of SPIE (January 03 1995)

Preparation, characterization, and luminescence properties of Pr3+ doped CaTiO3 films...
Proceedings of SPIE (February 25 2004)

Recent developments in microstructured optical fibers and optical fiber glasses
Proceedings of SPIE (May 16 2008)

Plate film waveguide fabrication with sol-gel coating technology
Proceedings of SPIE (January 08 2008)

A luminescent temperature sensor based on a tapered optical fiber...
Proceedings of SPIE (January 03 2011)

Fluorescent thin gel films using organic dyes and pigments
Proceedings of SPIE (October 02 1997)

Distributed optical fiber chemical sensor
Proceedings of SPIE (January 03 1996)

Subscribe to Digital Library

Receive Erratum Email Alert

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years