Enhanced color conversion from colloidal CdSe/CdS dot/rods by vertical microcavities

Colloidal CdSe/CdS dot/rods exhibit efficient photoluminescence from the spherical CdSe dots at wavelengths well below the absorption edge of the rod material. This property makes dot/rods advantageous for color conversion applications, especially when they are embedded in optical microcavities to improve light extraction in forward direction. Here, surface emitting half-wavelength microcavities are demonstrated containing films of dot/rods as active material, exhibiting luminescence enhancement factors of up to 21 at the resonator wavelengths, whereas with conventional CdSe/ZnS core-shell nanocrystals only half of this value is obtained.