THE INFLUENCE OF GOLD NANOPARTICLE CONCENTRATION ON THE FLUORESCENCE RESONANCE ENERGY TRANSFER

Abstract

We present an analytical model of the influence of gold nanoparticle (Au NPs) concentration on the energy transfer from CdTe Quantum dots (QDs) to Au NPs. CdTe QDs were used as a donor (D) and Au NPs were used as acceptor (A). In the D-A system, the energy transfer efficiency strongly depends on the spectral overlap and the separation distance between donors and acceptors. The results of the theoretical calculation are presented three parameters that characterize three resonant energy transfer mechanism with distances R in the range of 10–100 Å: Forster resonant energy (FRET); surface resonant energy transfer (SET) and Coulomb energy transfer (CET). Their value can be estimated the quenching and/or enhancement of fluorescence of D-A complexes. Comparison of experimental and theoretical data confirms the validity of the model.