title: Fluorescent porous silicon biological probes with high quantum efficiency and stability.
abstract: We demonstrate porous silicon biological probes as a stable and non-toxic alternative to organic dyes or cadmium-containing quantum dots for imaging and sensing applications. The fluorescent silicon quantum dots which are embedded on the porous silicon surface are passivated with carboxyl-terminated ligands through stable Si-C covalent bonds. The porous silicon bio-probes have shown photoluminescence quantum yield around 50% under near-UV excitation, with high photochemical and thermal stability. The bio-probes can be efficiently conjugated with antibodies, which is confirmed by a standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.
authors.forename: Chang-Ching
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Ying-Nien
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Hsiang-Chieh
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Jingda
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Shaoyi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Lih Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010316:Particle Size; D016062:Porosity; D011789:Quantum Theory; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D013057:Spectrum Analysis
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D012825:Silicon