Plasmon Enhancement of Electronic Energy Transfer Between Quantum Dots on the Surface of Nanoporous Silica

We use spectral kinetic methods to study electronic energy transfer processes between semiconductor quantum dots on the surface of wide-pore silica in the absence of and in the presence of silver nanoparticles, obtained by laser ablation methods. We have determined the efficiencies of dipole–dipole energy transfer between two-shell (CdSe/CdS/ZnS) and one-shell (CdSe/ZnS) quantum dots on the surface, the luminescence lifetimes and quantum yields, transfer distances and transfer rate constants. We have studied enhancement of photoprocesses in individual quantum dots and in a pair under the influence of resonant localized plasmons of ablative silver nanoparticles.