Investigation of Dynamic Near-Field Radiation Between Quantum Dots and Plasmonic Nanoparticles for Effective Tailoring of Solar Spectrum
This paper presents the theoretical and experimental studies of dynamic near-field interactions between quantum dots (QDs) and plasmonic gold nanoshell (GNS) nanoparticles suspended in an aquatic solution in attempts to effectively tailor the solar spectrum. The photoemission measurement of the CdTe QD/GNS nanofluid (1×1017 mL−1 for QDs and 5×108 mL−1 for GNSs) is amplified by 2.7 times when compared with the photoemission for QD-only solution with the same QD concentration. In order to investigate the mechanism of such enhancement, the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) numerical scheme combined with the Langevin formalism was developed. The modified DSMC can stochastically trace particle movements of QDs and GNSs in the nanofluid, suggesting that QDs within near-field of GNSs are responsible for the photoemission enhancement. The obtained results will provide the feasibility of using the dynamic near-field radiation to down-convert the solar spectrum with enhancement, which could be applied towards high-efficiency photovoltaics.