phenolphthalein will have a greater quantum yield because dissolved oxygen can reduce the fluorescence intensity

Walter Russell Algar has written:

'Towards multi-colour strategies for the detection of nucleic acid hybridization using quantum dots as energy donors in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)'

See this link.

Quantum dots are semiconductors that are used for medical imaging, quantum computing, transistors, solar cells, LEDs, and diode lasers. It was discovered by Alexei Ekimov in the early 1980s.

Actually aluminium nitride quantum dots can be generated using a thin film growth technique and stopping the growth at the very early stages of it. Then, you can observe nano-dots on the surface that can exhibit quantum effects. You can find recent scientific articles on this link.