Optical control of hybrid nano sources
Abstract
The coupling between the surface plasmon resonance of metallic nanoparticles and the emission band of quantum dots can lead to the enhancement or the quenching of the fluorescence of the quantum dots. The result depends on the distance between the nanoparticles and the quantum dots, and the spectral position of the resonance. The purpose of this work is to design a device which could allow to pilot optically the crossing between enhancement and quenching by combining optic molecular switches (photochromic molecules) to the coupling system metallic nanoparticles / quantum dots. The transition of a photochromic molecule from a colorless state (A) to a color state (B) is very fast (ps) and lead to an important modification of the refractive index.