Comparison of Au and Ag nanoshells׳ metal-enhanced fluorescence

•The average enhancement factors of Au and Ag nanoshells were analyzed theoretically.•The maximum AEF of Au NS occurs at the wavelength of the dipole mode.•The maximum AEF of Ag NS is at the narrowband quadrupole mode.•The Stokes shift effect on AEF is discussed for Au and Ag NSs.

The average enhancement factors of Au and Ag nanoshells (NSs) were analyzed theoretically to compare their overall performances on metal-enhanced fluorescence. We used the Mie theory and dyadic Green׳s functions to calculate the excitation rate and apparent quantum yield of NS interacting with a plane wave and a dipole, respectively, and then to obtain the enhancement factor. Moreover, the average enhancement factor (AEF) of NS on the fluorescence of a nearby molecule was obtained by averaging all possible orientations and locations of the molecule with a constant distance from NS. Our results show that the maximum AEF of Au NS occurs at the wavelength of the dipole mode, which is broadband. In contrast, the maximum AEF of Ag NS is at the narrowband quadrupole mode. In addition, the Stokes shift effect on AEF was studied for Au and Ag NSs.