Controlled modification of single colloidal CdSe/ZnS nanocrystal fluorescence through interactions with a gold surface

Single colloidal CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals are deposited at various distances from a gold film in order to improve their performance as single-photon sources. Photon antibunching is demonstrated and the experimental curves are accurately fitted by theoretical equations. Emission lifetime and intensity are measured and found in excellent agreement with theoretical values. The various effects of a neighbouring gold film are discussed : interferences of the excitation beam, interferences of the fluorescence light, opening of plasmon and lossy-surface-wave modes, modification of the radiation pattern leading to a modified objective collection efficiency. At 80 nm from the gold film, when using an objective with 0.75 numerical aperture, about a 2.4-fold increase of the detected intensity is evidenced. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America