Patterning and fluorescence tuning of quantum dots with haptic-interfaced bubble printing

Abstract

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are attractive for a wide range of applications such as displays, light-emitting devices, and sensors due to their properties such as tunable fluorescence wavelength, high brightness, and narrow bandwidth. Most of the applications require precise patterning of QDs with targeted properties on solid-state substrates. Herein, we have developed a haptic-interfaced bubble printing (HIBP) technique to enable high-resolution (510 nm) high-throughput (>10⁴ µm s⁻¹) patterning of QDs with strong emission tunability and to significantly enhance the accessibility of the technique via a smartphone device. The scalability and versatility of the HIBP are demonstrated in our arbitrary patterning of QDs on plasmonic substrates. A detailed study of plasmonic and photothermal interactions is performed via programmed stage movements to realize tunability of the emission wavelength and lifetime. Finally, the influence of the hand movement on the properties of the printed QDs in terms of emission wavelength tuning from yellow to blue is established. This work provides a single-step macroscale platform to manipulate nanoscale properties at high resolution and high throughput.