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Characterizing the Quantum-Confined Stark Effect in Semiconductor Quantum Dots and Nanorods for Single-Molecule Electrophysiology

Journal Article · · ACS Photonics
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [2];  [5]
  1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  2. Georg-August-Univ., Gottingen (Germany). III. Inst. of Physics-Biophysics
  3. Weizmann Inst. of Science, Rehovot (Israel)
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Molecular Foundry
  5. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California NanoSystems Inst., and Dept. of Physiology; Bar-Ilan Univ., Ramat-Gan (Israel). Dept. of Physics, Inst. for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials

We optimized the performance of quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE)-based voltage nanosensors. A high-throughput approach for single-particle QCSE characterization was developed and utilized to screen a library of such nanosensors. Type-II ZnSe/CdS-seeded nanorods were found to have the best performance among the different nanosensors evaluated in this work. The degree of correlation between intensity changes and spectral changes of the exciton's emission under an applied field was characterized. An upper limit for the temporal response of individual ZnSe/CdS nanorods to voltage modulation was characterized by high-throughput, high temporal resolution intensity measurements using a novel photon-counting camera. The measured 3.5 μs response time is limited by the voltage modulation electronics and represents ~30 times higher bandwidth than needed for recording an action potential in a neuron.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); European Research Council (ERC); Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; FC03-02ER63421
OSTI ID:
1650039
Journal Information:
ACS Photonics, Journal Name: ACS Photonics Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 5; ISSN 2330-4022
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (1)

Quantum-confined stark effect in the ensemble of phase-pure CdSe/CdS quantum dots journal January 2019