Photo-activated luminescence of CdSe quantum dot monolayers

We show that the luminescence from CdSe quantum dot monolayers can be strongly influenced by the interaction of water molecules adsorbed on the surface. Light-induced alterations in the surface states following adsorption of water, results in quasi-reversible luminescence changes in che quantum dot. The excitonic QY increases by a factor of 20 during the first 200 s Of illumination in air (post vacuum) and then steadily decreases to a level 6 times that of the vacuum reference after 5000 s. The exciton emission exhibits an exponential blue shift of nearly 16 nm (60 meV) over 1 h of illumination. During this time, the line width decreases by 10% during the first 100 s and then slowly increases to 96% of the vacuum reference line width after 5000 s. Our model suggests that water molecules adsorbed on the surface of the quantum dot act to passivate surface traps, which results in increased luminescence, similar to an effect well-known for bulk CdSe surfaces. In addition, adsorbed water molecules act to oxidize the surface of the quantum dot, which results in the blue shift of the exciton emission and eventually introduces new surface defects that lower the luminescence. It is the competition between these two processes that is responsible for the complex kinetics of the luminescence QY.