Authors:
Federica Mitri
1
;
Andrea De Iacovo
1
;
Serena De Santis
1
;
Carlo Giansante
2
;
Davide Spirito
3
;
Giovanni Sotgiu
1
and
Lorenzo Colace
1
Affiliations:
1
Department of Engineering, University Roma Tre, Via Vito Volterra 62, 00146, Rome, Italy
;
2
CNR Nanotec, Istituto di Nanotecnologia, Via Monteroni, Lecce 73100, Italy
;
3
IHP - Leibniz Institut für innovative Mikroelektronik, Im Technologiepark 25, 15236 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany
Keyword(s):
Colloidal Quantum Dots, Photoluminescent Probe, Vapor Explosive Detection.
Abstract:
Quantum dots are an emerging class of photoluminescent nanomaterials with peculiar properties arising from their nanometric size that allows the occurrence of strong quantum confinement effect. In recent years, these zero-dimensional semiconductor nanoparticles have been attracting increasing attention as luminescent probe for optical sensing applications. However, to date, almost all quantum dots- based sensors reported in literature exploit fluorescence from solutions whereas the development of solid-state photoluminescent quantum dots still remains a challenge. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of exploiting the solid-state photoluminescence of PbS quantum dots deposited on a silicon substrate for vapor explosive detection, a worrying priority for homeland security and counter-terrorism applications.