Metallic nanoparticles enhanced the spontaneous emission of semiconductor nanocrystals embedded in nanoimprinted photonic crystalsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c2nr32134c

We report on a method to enhance the light-emission efficiency of printable thin films of a polymer doped with luminescent (CdSe)ZnS nanocrystals via metallic nanoparticles and nanoimprinted photonic crystals. We experimentally show a strong fluorescence enhancement of nanocrystals by coupling exciton-plasmon with the localized surface plasmon of metallic nanoparticles. The emitted light is efficiently diffracted by photonic crystals structures directly imprinted in the nanocomposite polymer. By combining the field susceptibility technique with optical Bloch equations, we examine the interaction of the quantum and plasmonic entities at small distances. A method to enhance light-emission efficiency of polymer films doped with luminescent nanocrystals via metallic nanoparticles and nanoimprinted photonic crystals is presented.