Photoluminescence of double core/shell infrared (CdSeTe)/ZnS quantum dots conjugated to Pseudo rabies virus antibodies

• The conjugation of double core/shell CdSe(Te)/ZnS QDs to Pseudo rabies virus antibodies has been studied.
• PL energy spectral shift is detected in emission of bioconjugated CdSe(Te)/ZnS QDs.
• PL energy shift is assigned to the variation of QD energy levels in electric field.
• The electric field applied to bioconjugated QDs is created by the charged antibodies.

Double core CdSeTe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) with emission at 800 nm (1.60 eV) have been studied by photoluminescence (PL) and Raman scattering methods in the non-conjugated state and after the conjugation to the Pseudo rabies virus (PRV) antibodies. The transformation of PL spectra, stimulated by the electric charge of antibodies, has been detected for the bioconjugated QDs. Raman scattering spectra are investigated with the aim to reveal the CdSeTe core compositions. The double core QD energy diagrams were designed that help to analyze the PL spectra and their transformation at the bioconjugation. It is revealed that the interface in double core QDs has the type II quantum well character that permits to explain the near IR optical transition (1.60 eV) in the double core QDs. It is shown that the essential transformation of PL spectra is useful for the study of QD bioconjugation with specific antibodies and can be a powerful technique in early medical diagnostics.