Rapid Voltage Sensing with Single Nanorods via the Quantum Confined Stark Effect

• DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.8b00206
• Publication Date: 2018-06-24T16:44:10Z
• Authors: Omri Bar-Elli; Dan Steinitz; Gaoling Yang; Ron Tenne; Anastasia Ludwig; Yung Kuo; Antoine Triller; Shimon Weiss; Dan Oron
• Keywords: Quantum-confined Stark effect; Millisecond; Nanorod; Quantum sensor

Properly designed colloidal semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have already been shown to exhibit high sensitivity external electric fields via the confined Stark effect (QCSE). Yet, detection of characteristic spectral shifts associated with QCSE has traditionally painstakingly slow, dramatically limiting these QD sensors fast transients. We experimentally demonstrate a new scheme achieve shot-noise-limited emission wavelength in QDs, showing feasibility for their use as local field on millisecond time scale. This regime operation is potentially suitable single action potentials neurons at spatial resolution.