Surface plasmon effect of carbon nanodots.

Luminescent ZnO quantum dots (QDs) have been prepared, and the fluorescence intensity of the QDs can be increased greatly with the introduction of carbon nanodots, while the fluorescence lifetime of the QDs decreases significantly. The fluorescence enhancement and lifetime decrement can be attributed to the surface plasmon effect of the carbon nanodots, and the calculated surface plasmon resonance frequency of the nanodots matches well with the fluorescence spectrum of the ZnO QDs.

Highly sensitive ultraviolet photodetectors fabricated from ZnO quantum dots/carbon nanodots hybrid films.

Ultraviolet photodetectors have been fabricated from ZnO quantum dots/carbon nanodots hybrid films, and the introduction of carbon nanodots improves the performance of the photodetectors greatly. The photodetectors can be used to detect very weak ultraviolet signals (as low as 12 nW/cm(2)). The detectivity and noise equivalent power of the photodetector can reach 3.1 × 10(17) cmHz(1/2)/W and 7.8 × 10(-20) W, respectively, both of which are the best values ever reported for ZnO-based photodetectors. The mechanism for the high sensitivity of the photodetectors has been attributed to the enhanced carrier-separation at the ZnO/C interface.