Laser-Printed Plasmonic Arrays Boost IR Emission of Colloidal Quantum Dots

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) that emit light in the near- and mid-infrared (IR) spectral ranges have the potential to power a range of optical devices. However, fundamental physical limitations decrease the intensity of IR-emitting QDs. At longer wavelengths, the quantum yield of such QDs decreases as the radiative emission rate drops following Fermi’s golden rule, while nonradiative recombination channels compete with light emission. Scientists from Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) and the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FEB RAS), working with international colleagues, overcame these limitations by applying a special resonant lattice of nanostructures to mercury telluride (HgTe) QDs. They...