Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2011
We report on the efficient photoluminescence up-conversion in colloidally synthesized CdTe nanocrystals. We demonstrate that the efficiency of photon energy up-conversion and magnitude of spectral shift can be controlled: (i) by the size of the nanocrystals; (ii) by the temperature dependence of the excited state absorption coefficient; (iii) by the dependence on excitation intensity. From the analysis of the experimental data we can suggest that intrinsic gap states are involved as intermediate states in the photoluminescence up-conversion rather than nonlinear two-photon absorption or Auger processes.