Optical Properties of Metal/Semiconductor Nanoparticles and Assemblies Fabricated Through DNA Hybridisation

This research investigates the optical properties of metal and semiconductor nanocrystals, and their assemblies. We report novel and surprising polarisation anisotropy (in response to the polarisation of the excitation light) for the luminescence lifetimes of single semiconductor nanocrystals, and link this behaviour to complex excitonic trap state dynamics. As the optical properties of nanocrystals can be greatly enhanced through plasmon-exciton coupling, we optimise and utilise DNA hybridisation self-assembly to fabricate discrete nanostructures using gold nanorods, nanospheres, and semiconductor nanocrystals. We interrogate the photophysics of these assemblies at the single assembly level using correlative optical and electron microscopy and computational simulations.