Magic-sized nanocrystals (MSNs) are nanocrystals with a single size distribution. They have narrow spectral features that do not exhibit inhomogeneous line broadening. This enabled us to analyze homogeneous line broadening of CdSe and CdTe MSNs. In solution, we observed two aggregated configurations of CdSe and CdTe MSNs. Sub-peaks within MSN excitonic peaks were caused by these two aggregated configurations and surface states. A two-dimensional photoluminescence spectrum of a mixture of CdTe 427 nm and 500 nm MSNs gave direct evidence of Förster resonant energy transfer (RET) between the two sizes of MSNs. Normalized experimental overlap between donor emission and acceptor absorption spectra was on the order predicted by theory, confirming that there is sufficient overlap for RET to take place in this system. Additionally, within both aggregated configurations, the two sizes of MSNs were within sufficient distance from one another for RET to occur.

Magic-sized nanocrystals (MSNs) are nanocrystals with a single size distribution. They have narrow spectral features that do not exhibit inhomogeneous line broadening. This enabled us to analyze homogeneous line broadening of CdSe and CdTe MSNs. In solution, we observed two aggregated configurations of CdSe and CdTe MSNs. Sub-peaks within MSN excitonic peaks were caused by these two aggregated configurations and surface states. A two-dimensional photoluminescence spectrum of a mixture of CdTe 427 nm and 500 nm MSNs gave direct evidence of Förster resonant energy transfer (RET) between the two sizes of MSNs. Normalized experimental overlap between donor emission and acceptor absorption spectra was on the order predicted by theory, confirming that there is sufficient overlap for RET to take place in this system. Additionally, within both aggregated configurations, the two sizes of MSNs were within sufficient distance from one another for RET to occur.

Deposition of noble metal and semiconductor nanocrystalline thin films has received much attention. CdS and CdSe are important semiconductors used in optical devices. A wet chemical route which uses the interface of two immiscible liquids to control the growth and deposition of nanocrystalline thin films forms the basis of the current study. In this method, a metal precursor dissolved in toluene or decane is held in contact with a water layer containing a reducing or sulphiding agent. The reaction proceeds at the interface of the liquids and results in deposits adhering to the interfacial region. The products of such reactions typically consist of nanocrystals forming a thin film. Stable sols of Au, Ag were found to metathesize on contact with alkylamine in oil to form monolayer films that spread across large areas at the water/oil interface. The nature and properties of interfacial thin films depend on the alkylamine. Nanocrystalline thin films consisting of CdS adhering to the interface starting with a polydispersed aqueous sol of crystallites and alkylamine were obtained. The optical band gaps of the films formed are dependent on the alkylamine chain length, with the shortest chain yielding the largest gap. A systematic increase in particle diameters following adsorption is responsible for changes in the electronic structure of films. The formation of nanocrystalline films of CdS adhering at the interface using a toluene solution of cadmium diethyldithiocarbamate and aqueous Na2S solution, in the presence of tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOAB) in the aqueous phase, was investigated under various reaction parameters, while CdSe was obtained using Na2SeSO3 solution and the influences of deposition temperature and solution concentration were studied. A ternary water/decane/2-butoxyethanol /salt system was used to grow deposits of CdSe and CdS. Nanostructured thin films were obtained at the upper interface of the ternary system, between the emulsive middle layer and oil rich top phase. The influence of deposition conditions such as precursor concentrations and temperature, as well as the nature of the medium on the properties of the deposits was studied. Deposits grown using the ternary system were compared with those obtained using water/decane and water/toluene systems. Reaction parameters such as temperature, solution concentration and the size of CdS and CdSe were controlled. A thin film of CdS and CdSe nanocrystals was formed at the interface. The grain size was found to be dependent on reaction temperature and solution concentration, with higher temperatures and solution concentration resulting in larger grains. The nature of thin films obtained at the interface of two immiscible liquids and of a water/decane/2-butoxyethanol/salt ternary system were studied using Scanning and Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and UV-visible spectroscopy.

Chapter 1. General Introduction This chapter gives an introduction to supramolecular organo/hydrogels and the related bile acid chemistry touching upon the gelation properties of the bile acid derivatives. Diverse applications of the supramolecular gels are illustrated with several examples. In the concluding section of this chapter, a brief introduction on the semiconductor nanocrystals is provided. Finally, the content of the thesis is outlined. Chapter 2. Bile Acid Derived Novel Organo/hydrogelators Part 1. Bile Acid Derived Organo/hydrogelators With a Basic Side Chain Cationic analogues of bile acids which showed remarkable gelation properties in water were reported from our laboratory. This led us to investigate the aggregation behaviour of some of the lithocholic and deoxycholic acid derivatives having a basic side-chain. Figure 1. Bile acid based organo/hydrogelators containing a basic side-chain. In this part, an organogelator 1 and a hydrogelator 2 derived from parent bile acids have been described with respect to their gelation properties, morphology, thermal and mechanical stability of the gels. The organo/hydrogels were shown to be responsive to acid-base stimuli as the organogel formed only in the protonated state and the hydrogel formed in the neutral form of the tertiary amines. The xerogel fibres obtained from the organogel were found to be solid-like and stable up to 200 oC as confirmed by variable temperature polarizing optical microscopy. The non-fluorescent organogel was doped with a fluorescent dye (coumarin 153) to design a novel dye-organogel composite material which was investigated with laser scanning confocal fluorescence microscopy showing the dye molecules were uniformly deposited on the organogel fibres. Part 2. Serendipitous Organogelation by Dimeric Bile Acid Esters This section highlights our work on the organogelators based on a number of dimeric esters consisting of different bile acid units. Figure 2. The three different dimeric bile acid esters as organogelators. In this part, three bile acid derived dimeric esters (1, 2 and 3) were shown to possess organogelation properties in aromatic and halogenated aromatic solvents. We studied the morphological features and rheological properties of these organogels. Next, the organogel matrix was exploited to generate and stabilize gold nanoparticles and prepare AuNP/gel hybrid material. Chapter 3. Cholate Hydrogels and Soft Gel-nanoparticle Hybrid Materials Sodium cholate does not form gel in water under any condition as compared to other sodium salts of other bile acids such as sodium deoxycholate and lithocholate which show pH-dependent gelation behaviour. Figure 3. Metal cholate hydrogels derived from sodium cholate and a variety of metal ions. In this chapter, super hydrogelation of sodium cholate induced by a variety of metal ions (Ca2+, Cu2+, Co2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Hg2+ and Ag+) is highlighted with respect to their morphology and mechanical strength/stability. The calcium cholate supramolecular system showed the presence of helically twisted nanofibres which were utilised in the synthesis of soft hybrid materials containing metal (Au and Ag) and metal sulphide (CdS, ZnS, HgS, etc.) nanoparticles. Chapter 4. Cadmium Deoxycholate and Highly Luminescent CdSe Nanocrystals Bile acid derivatives have very high chemical and thermal stability owing to the presence of a rigid steroidal nucleus. We explored the possibility of utilizing the bile salt derived from Cd as a metal complexes as precursor to high quality nanocrystals (NCs) which can only be accessed at high temperatures (>200 oC). Figure 4. Synthesis of high quality CdSe NCs from cadmium deoxycholate. In this chapter, the synthesis of high quality CdSe nanocrystals is discussed using a novel bile acid based precursor: cadmium salt of 7-deoxycholic acid, which has high thermal stability and can be conveniently used at very high temperatures (>300 oC) required for the synthesis of high quality nanocrystals. Syntheses were done both by ‘injection’ and ‘non-injection’ modes. The as-prepared nanocrystals have high photoluminescence quantum yield, multiple excitons, narrow size-distributions and zinc blende/wurtzite crystalline cores. Appendix. Steroidal Thiols in Design of Novel Quantum dot (QD)/Gel Hybrid Materials Bile acid derived steroidal thiols were reported to be efficient capping agents for silver and gold nanoparticles from our laboratory. So, we wanted to check whether they could stabilize the semiconductor nanocrystals as well. Figure 5. Steroidal thiols as stabilizers of semiconductor quantum dots. In this short report, we describe the efficient capping by bile acid derived thiols of group II-VI semiconductor nanocrystals/quantum dots (QDs) (CdS, CdSe). After synthesizing the thiol capped QDs, we tried to disperse the capped nanoparticles into the gel fibres. The hybrid gels showed the presence of nanoparticles inside the fibres as observed by transmission electron microscopy, although the photoluminescence of the QDs was very low in the gel matrix, which might be due to the inefficient surface passivation of the nanoparticles in the gel.

Die Raman-Spektroskopie ist eine der nützlichsten optischen Methoden zur Untersuchung der Phononen organischer und anorganischer Materialien. Mit der fortschreitenden Miniaturisierung von elektronischen Bauelementen und der damit einhergehenden Verkleinerung der Strukturen von der Mikrometer- zur Nanometerskala nehmen das Streuvolumen und somit auch das Raman-Signal drastisch ab. Daher werden neue Herangehensweisen benötigt um sie mit optischer Spektroskopie zu untersuchen. Ein häufig genutzter Ansatz um die Signalintensität zu erhöhen ist die Verwendung von Resonanz-Raman-Streuung, das heißt dass die Anregungsenergie an die Energie eines optischen Überganges in der Struktur angepasst wird. In dieser Arbeit wurden InAs/Al(Ga)As-basierte Multilagen mit einer Periodizität unterhalb des Beugungslimits mittels Resonanz-Mikro-Raman-Spektroskopie und Raster-Kraft-Mikroskopie (AFM) den jeweiligen Schichten zugeordnet. Ein effizienterer Weg um die Raman-Sensitivität zu erhöhen ist die Verwendung der oberflächenverstärkten Raman-Streuung (SERS). Sie beruht hauptsächlich auf der Verstärkung der elektromagnetischen Strahlung aufgrund von lokalisierten Oberflächenplasmonenresonanzen in Metallnanostrukturen. Beide oben genannten Signalverstärkungsmethoden wurden in dieser Arbeit zur oberflächenverstärkten Resonanz-Raman-Streuung kombiniert um geringe Mengen organischer und anorganischer Materialien (ultradünne Cobalt-Phthalocyanin-Schichten (CoPc), CuS und CdSe Nanokristalle) zu untersuchen. Damit wurden in beiden Fällen Verstärkungsfaktoren in der Größenordnung 103 bis 104 erreicht, wobei bewiesen werden konnte, dass der dominante Verstärkungsmechanismus die elektromagnetische Verstärkung ist. Spitzenverstärkte Raman-Spektroskopie (TERS) ist ein Spezialfall von SERS, bei dem das Auflösungsvermögen von Licht unterschritten werden kann, was zu einer drastischen Verbesserung der lateralen Auflösung gegenüber der konventionellen Mikro-Raman-Spektroskopie führt. Dies konnte mit Hilfe einer Spitze erreicht werden, die als einzelner plasmonischer Streuer wirkt. Dabei wird die Spitze in einer kontrollierten Weise gegenüber der Probe bewegt. Die Anwendung von TERS erforderte zunächst die Entwicklung und Optimierung eines AFM-basierten TERS-Aufbaus und TERS-aktiver Spitzen, welche Gegenstand dieser Arbeit war. TERS-Bilder mit Auflösungen unter 15 nm konnten auf einer Testprobe mit kohlenstoffhaltigen Verbindungen realisiert werden. Die TERS-Verstärkung und ihre Abhängigkeit vom Substratmaterial, der Substratmorphologie sowie der AFM-Betriebsart wurden anhand der CoPc-Schichten, die auf nanostrukturierten Goldsubstraten abgeschieden wurden, evaluiert. Weiterhin konnte gezeigt werden, dass die hohe örtliche Auflösung der TERS-Verstärkung die selektive Detektion des Signals weniger CdSe-Nanokristalle möglich macht.

Die Raman-Spektroskopie ist eine der nützlichsten optischen Methoden zur Untersuchung der Phononen organischer und anorganischer Materialien. Mit der fortschreitenden Miniaturisierung von elektronischen Bauelementen und der damit einhergehenden Verkleinerung der Strukturen von der Mikrometer- zur Nanometerskala nehmen das Streuvolumen und somit auch das Raman-Signal drastisch ab. Daher werden neue Herangehensweisen benötigt um sie mit optischer Spektroskopie zu untersuchen. Ein häufig genutzter Ansatz um die Signalintensität zu erhöhen ist die Verwendung von Resonanz-Raman-Streuung, das heißt dass die Anregungsenergie an die Energie eines optischen Überganges in der Struktur angepasst wird. In dieser Arbeit wurden InAs/Al(Ga)As-basierte Multilagen mit einer Periodizität unterhalb des Beugungslimits mittels Resonanz-Mikro-Raman-Spektroskopie und Raster-Kraft-Mikroskopie (AFM) den jeweiligen Schichten zugeordnet. Ein effizienterer Weg um die Raman-Sensitivität zu erhöhen ist die Verwendung der oberflächenverstärkten Raman-Streuung (SERS). Sie beruht hauptsächlich auf der Verstärkung der elektromagnetischen Strahlung aufgrund von lokalisierten Oberflächenplasmonenresonanzen in Metallnanostrukturen. Beide oben genannten Signalverstärkungsmethoden wurden in dieser Arbeit zur oberflächenverstärkten Resonanz-Raman-Streuung kombiniert um geringe Mengen organischer und anorganischer Materialien (ultradünne Cobalt-Phthalocyanin-Schichten (CoPc), CuS und CdSe Nanokristalle) zu untersuchen. Damit wurden in beiden Fällen Verstärkungsfaktoren in der Größenordnung 103 bis 104 erreicht, wobei bewiesen werden konnte, dass der dominante Verstärkungsmechanismus die elektromagnetische Verstärkung ist. Spitzenverstärkte Raman-Spektroskopie (TERS) ist ein Spezialfall von SERS, bei dem das Auflösungsvermögen von Licht unterschritten werden kann, was zu einer drastischen Verbesserung der lateralen Auflösung gegenüber der konventionellen Mikro-Raman-Spektroskopie führt. Dies konnte mit Hilfe einer Spitze erreicht werden, die als einzelner plasmonischer Streuer wirkt. Dabei wird die Spitze in einer kontrollierten Weise gegenüber der Probe bewegt. Die Anwendung von TERS erforderte zunächst die Entwicklung und Optimierung eines AFM-basierten TERS-Aufbaus und TERS-aktiver Spitzen, welche Gegenstand dieser Arbeit war. TERS-Bilder mit Auflösungen unter 15 nm konnten auf einer Testprobe mit kohlenstoffhaltigen Verbindungen realisiert werden. Die TERS-Verstärkung und ihre Abhängigkeit vom Substratmaterial, der Substratmorphologie sowie der AFM-Betriebsart wurden anhand der CoPc-Schichten, die auf nanostrukturierten Goldsubstraten abgeschieden wurden, evaluiert. Weiterhin konnte gezeigt werden, dass die hohe örtliche Auflösung der TERS-Verstärkung die selektive Detektion des Signals weniger CdSe-Nanokristalle möglich macht.:Bibliografische Beschreibung 3 Parts of this work are published in 5 Table of contents 7 List of abbreviations 10 Introduction 11 Chapter 1. Principles of Raman spectroscopy, surface- and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopies 15 1.1. Raman spectroscopy: its benefits and limitations 15 1.2. Electromagnetic enhancement in SERS and TERS 18 1.2.1. Light scattering by a sphere 19 1.2.2. Image dipole effect 22 1.3. Chemical enhancement 23 1.4. Summary 25 Chapter 2. Raman and AFM profiling of nanocrystal multilayer structures 27 2.1. Materials and methods 27 2.1.1. Nanocrystal growth 27 2.1.2. Sample preparation 28 2.1.3. TEM, AFM and Raman measurements 29 2.2. Structure of embedded NCs 31 2.2.1. Size and shape of embedded NCs by TEM 31 2.2.2. Phonon spectra of NCs 32 2.3. Profiling on NC multilayers 34 2.3.1. AFM profiling of multilayer NC structures 34 2.3.2. Raman profiling of NC multilayers 38 2.4. Summary 40 Chapter 3. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy 43 3.1. Materials and methods 43 3.1.1. SERS substrate preparation 43 3.1.2. Organic and inorganic materials 45 3.1.3. Micro-Raman spectroscopy measurements 46 3.1.4. Micro-ellipsometry 46 3.1.5. Numerical simulations 47 3.2. SERS on organic films 47 3.2.1. SERS enhancement of CoPc 48 3.2.2. Polarization dependence of enhancement in SERS 51 3.3. SERS by nanocrytals 53 3.4. Summary 55 Chapter 4. Implementation of tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy 57 4.1. TERS enhancement factor 58 4.2. State of the art of optical systems for TERS 60 4.3. Implementation of the optical system 61 4.4. TERS tips 64 4.4.1. State of the art of TERS tips 64 4.4.2. Fabrication of tips for AFM-based TERS 66 4.4.3. Mechanical properties of fully metallic TERS tips 68 4.5. Summary 74 Chapter 5. Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy imaging 75 5.1. Materials and methods 75 5.1.1. Preparation of multi-component sample 75 5.1.2. TERS experiments 76 5.1.3. Simulations of electric field enhancement 76 5.2. High resolution discrimination of carbon-containing compounds by TERS 78 5.3. Effect of substrate material and morphology on TERS enhancement 82 5.4. Effect of the AFM imaging mode on TERS enhancement 85 5.5. TERS on free-standing colloidal CdSe NCs 90 5.6. Summary 91 Conclusions 93 References 95 List of figures 104 Erklärung 109 Lebenslauf 111 Publication list 112 Acknowledgements 117