Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots (QD), have been extensively applied in photovoltaics, electronics, and biological imaging due to their robust and size-tunable optical properties. Sensing applications can be realized using coupled QD-organic dye chromophores. Recent advances in microscopy have enabled fundamental biological sensing studies at the single chromophore level that are greatly facilitated by the use of quantum dot emitters. Despite their advantages, both QD and organic dyes experience fluorescence intermittency. QDs exhibit power-law blinking statistical behavior while dyes are exponential due to differences in the underlying photophysical dynamics. We have investigated FRET coupled QD-dye conjugates to characterize how the blinking behavior is altered by the energy transfer interaction. Single-molecule spectroscopy has revealed that a CF633 acceptor shows similar exponential blinking behavior as an uncoupled single dye; however, the overall lifetime is significantly extended.

Blinking statistics of colloidal semiconductor quantum dot – organic dye conjugates

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