Comparison of the normalized luminescence spectra of Mn-doped CdS/ZnS NCs under different medium environment. (a) Solvent dependence; chloroform (s1) and water (s2), (b) Medium phase dependence; on sapphire under vacuum (s3), PMMA/sapphire (s4), chloroform (s1) is shown for comparison. (c) pH dependence: pH5 (s5), pH7 (s6) and pH9 (s7). The bottom panels are the intensity difference of the normalized spectra. (a) s1–s2, (b) s1–s3 (blue), s1–s4 (red), (c) s6–s5 (blue), s6–s7 (red).