Non-Blinking Luminescence from Charged Single Graphene Quantum Dots

Wei Fu, Jiefu Yin, Huaqiang Cao*, Zhongfu Zhou, Junying Zhang, Jingjing Fu, Jamie H. Warner, Cheng Wang, Xiaofang Jia, G. Neville Greaves, Anthony K. Cheetham*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Photoluminescence blinking behavior from single quantum dots under steady illumination is an important but controversial topic. Its occurrence has impeded the use of single quantum dots in bioimaging. Different mechanisms have been proposed to account for it, although controversial, the most important of which is the non-radiative Auger recombination mechanism whereby photocharging of quantum dots can lead to the blinking phenomenon. Here, the singly charged trion, which maintains photon emission, including radiative recombination and non-radiative Auger recombination, leads to fluorescence non-blinking which is observed in photocharged single graphene quantum dots (GQDs). This phenomenon can be explained in terms of different energy levels in the GQDs, caused by various oxygen-containing functional groups in the single GQDs. The suppressed blinking is due to the filling of trap sites owing to a Coulomb blockade. These results provide a profound understanding of the special optical properties of GQDs, affording a reference for further in-depth research.
Original languageEnglish
Article number2304074
JournalAdvanced Materials
Volume35
Issue number40
Early online date22 Aug 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 05 Oct 2023

Keywords

  • Auger recombination
  • charged trions
  • graphene quantum dots
  • non-blinking
  • single quantum dots

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