Tailoring Plasmonic Enhanced Upconversion in Single NaYF4:Yb(3+)/Er(3+) Nanocrystals.

ABSTRACT: By using silver nanoplatelets with a widely tunable localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), and their corresponding local field enhancement, here we show large manipulation of plasmonic enhanced upconversion in NaYF4:Yb(3+)/Er(3+) nanocrystals at the single particle level. In particular, we show that when the plasmonic resonance of silver nanolplatelets is tuned to 656?nm, matching the emission wavelength, an upconversion enhancement factor ~5 is obtained. However, when the plasmonic resonance is tuned to 980?nm, matching the nanocrystal absorption wavelength, we achieve an enhancement factor of ~22 folds. The precise geometric arrangement between fluorescent nanoparticles and silver nanoplatelets allows us to make, for the first time, a comparative analysis between experimental results and numerical simulations, yielding a quantitative agreement at the single particle level. Such a comparison lays the foundations for a rational design of hybrid metal-fluorescent nanocrystals to harness the upconversion enhancement for biosensing and light harvesting applications.

SUBMITTER: Wang YL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4432370 | biostudies-other | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other