Growth Control of InP/ZnSe Heterostructured Nanocrystals.

The morphology of heterostructured semiconductor nanocrystals (h-NCs) dictates the spatial distribution of charge carriers and their recombination dynamics and/or transport, which are the main performance indicators of photonic applications utilizing h-NCs. The inability to control the morphology of heterovalent III-V/II-VI h-NCs composed of heavy-metal-free elements hinders their practical use. As a case study of III-V/II-VI h-NCs, the growth control of ZnSe epilayers on InP NCs is demonstrated here. The anisotropic morphology in InP/ZnSe h-NCs is attributed to the facet-dependent energy costs for the growth of ZnSe epilayers on different facets of InP NCs, and effective chemical means for controlling the growth rates of ZnSe on different surface planes are demonstrated. Ultimately, this article capitalizes on the controlled morphology of InP/ZnSe h-NCs to expand their photophysical characteristics from stable and pure emission to environment-sensitive one, which will facilitate their use in a variety of photonic applications.

Excitation Intensity-Dependent Quantum Yield of Semiconductor Nanocrystals.

One of the key phenomena that determine the fluorescence of nanocrystals is the nonradiative Auger-Meitner recombination of excitons. This nonradiative rate affects the nanocrystals' fluorescence intensity, excited state lifetime, and quantum yield. Whereas most of the above properties can be directly measured, the quantum yield is the most difficult to assess. Here we place semiconductor nanocrystals inside a tunable plasmonic nanocavity with subwavelength spacing and modulate their radiative de-excitation rate by changing the cavity size. This allows us to determine absolute values of their fluorescence quantum yield under specific excitation conditions. Moreover, as expected considering the enhanced Auger-Meitner rate for higher multiple excited states, increasing the excitation rate reduces the quantum yield of the nanocrystals.

Ligand Effect in 1-Octanethiol Passivation of InP/ZnSe/ZnS Quantum Dots-Evidence of Incomplete Surface Passivation during Synthesis.

The lack of anionic carboxylate ligands on the surface of InP/ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs), where zinc carboxylate ligands can be converted to carboxylic acid or carboxylate ligands via proton transfer by 1-octanethiol, is demonstrated. The as-synthesized QDs initially have an under-coordinated vacancy surface, which is passivated by solvent ligands such as ethanol and acetone. Upon exposure of 1-octanethiol to the QD surface, 1-octanethiol effectively induces the surface binding of anionic carboxylate ligands (derived from zinc carboxylate ligands) by proton transfer, which consequently exchanges ethanol and acetone ligands that bind on the incomplete QD surface. These systematic chemical analyses, such as thermogravimetric analysis-mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, directly show the interplay of surface ligands, and it associates with QD light-emitting diodes (QD-LEDs). It is believed that this better understanding can lead to industrially feasible QD-LEDs.

Shape-Tuned Multiphoton-Emitting InP Nanotetrapods.

As the properties of a semiconductor material depend on the fate of the excitons, manipulating exciton behavior is the primary objective of nanomaterials. Although nanocrystals exhibit unusual excitonic characteristics owing to strong spatial confinement, studying the interactions between excitons in a single nanoparticle remains challenging due to the rapidly vanishing multiexciton species. Here, a platform for exciton tailoring using a straightforward strategy of shape-tuning of single-crystalline nanocrystals is presented. Spectroscopic and theoretical studies reveal a systematic transition of exciton confinement orientation from 3D to 2D, which is solely tuned by the geometric shape of material. Such a precise shape-effect triggers a multiphoton emission in single nanotetrapods with arms longer than the exciton Bohr radius of material. In consequence, the unique interplay between the multiple quantum states allows a geometric modulation of the quantum-confined Stark effect and nanocrystal memory effect in single nanotetrapods. These results provide a useful metric in designing nanomaterials for future photonic applications.

Interface polarization in heterovalent core-shell nanocrystals.

The potential profile and the energy level offset of core-shell heterostructured nanocrystals (h-NCs) determine the photophysical properties and the charge transport characteristics of h-NC solids. However, limited material choices for heavy metal-free III-V-II-VI h-NCs pose challenges in comprehensive control of the potential profile. Herein, we present an approach to such a control by steering dipole densities at the interface of III-V-II-VI h-NCs. The controllable heterovalency at the interface is responsible for interfacial dipole densities that result in the vacuum-level shift, providing an additional knob for the control of optical and electrical characteristics of h-NCs. The synthesis of h-NCs with atomic precision allows us to correlate interfacial dipole moments with the NCs' photochemical stability and optoelectronic performance.

Enhanced thermal stability of InP quantum dots coated with Al-doped ZnS shell.

Colloidal InP quantum dots (QDs) have attracted a surge of interest as environmentally friendly light-emitters in downconversion liquid crystal displays and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). A ZnS shell on InP-based core QDs has helped achieve high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) and stability. Yet, due to the difficulty in the growth of a thick ZnS shell without crystalline defects, InP-based core/shell QDs show inferior stability against QY drop compared to Cd chalcogenide precedents, e.g., CdSe/CdS core/thick-shell QDs. In this work, we demonstrate the synthesis of InP-based core/shell QDs coated with an Al-doped ZnS outer shell. QDs with an Al-doped shell exhibit remarkable improvement in thermal and air stability even when the shell thickness is below 2 nm, while the absorption and PL spectra, size, and crystal structure are nearly the same as the case of QDs with a pristine ZnS shell. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that Al3+ in Al-doped QDs forms an Al-oxide layer at elevated temperature under ambient atmosphere. The as-formed Al-oxide layer blocks the access of external oxidative species penetrating into QDs and prevents QDs from oxidative degradation. We also trace the chemical pathway of the incorporation of Al3+ into ZnS lattice during the shell growth. Furthermore, we fabricate QD-LEDs using Al-doped and undoped QDs and compare the optoelectronic characteristics and stability.

Membrane insertion of-and membrane potential sensing by-semiconductor voltage nanosensors: Feasibility demonstration.

We developed membrane voltage nanosensors that are based on inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles. We provide here a feasibility study for their utilization. We use a rationally designed peptide to functionalize the nanosensors, imparting them with the ability to self-insert into a lipid membrane with a desired orientation. Once inserted, these nanosensors could sense membrane potential via the quantum confined Stark effect, with a single-particle sensitivity. With further improvements, these nanosensors could potentially be used for simultaneous recording of action potentials from multiple neurons in a large field of view over a long duration and for recording electrical signals on the nanoscale, such as across one synapse.

Highly luminescent silica-coated CdS/CdSe/CdS nanoparticles with strong chemical robustness and excellent thermal stability.

We present facile synthesis of bright CdS/CdSe/CdS@SiO2 nanoparticles with 72% of quantum yields (QYs) retaining ca 80% of the original QYs. The main innovative point is the utilization of the highly luminescent CdS/CdSe/CdS seed/spherical quantum well/shell (SQW) as silica coating seeds. The significance of inorganic semiconductor shell passivation and structure design of quantum dots (QDs) for obtaining bright QD@SiO2 is demonstrated by applying silica encapsulation via reverse microemulsion method to three kinds of QDs with different structure: CdSe core and 2 nm CdS shell (CdSe/CdS-thin); CdSe core and 6 nm CdS shell (CdSe/CdS-thick); and CdS core, CdSe intermediate shell and 5 nm CdS outer shell (CdS/CdSe/CdS-SQW). Silica encapsulation inevitably results in lower photoluminescence quantum yield (PL QY) than pristine QDs due to formation of surface defects. However, the retaining ratio of pristine QY is different in the three silica coated samples; for example, CdSe/CdS-thin/SiO2 shows the lowest retaining ratio (36%) while the retaining ratio of pristine PL QY in CdSe/CdS-thick/SiO2 and SQW/SiO2 is over 80% and SQW/SiO2 shows the highest resulting PL QY. Thick outermost CdS shell isolates the excitons from the defects at surface, making PL QY relatively insensitive to silica encapsulation. The bright SiO2-coated SQW sample shows robustness against harsh conditions, such as acid etching and thermal annealing. The high luminescence and long-term stability highlights the potential of using the SQW/SiO2 nanoparticles in bio-labeling or display applications.

Design Rules for Membrane-Embedded Voltage-Sensing Nanoparticles.

Voltage-sensing dyes and voltage-sensing fluorescence proteins have been continually improved and as a result have provided a wealth of insights into neuronal circuits. Further improvements in voltage-sensing dyes and voltage-sensing fluorescence proteins are needed, however, for routine detection of single action potentials across a large number of individual neurons in a large field-of-view of a live mammalian brain. On the other hand, recent experiments and calculations suggest that semiconducting nanoparticles could act as efficient voltage sensors, suitable for the above-mentioned task. This study presents quantum mechanical calculations, including Auger recombination rates, of the quantum-confined Stark effect in membrane-embedded semiconducting nanoparticles, examines their possible utility as membrane voltage sensors, and provide design rules for their structure and composition.

Single molecule quantum-confined Stark effect measurements of semiconductor nanoparticles at room temperature.

We measured the quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) of several types of fluorescent colloidal semiconductor quantum dots and nanorods at the single molecule level at room temperature. These measurements demonstrate the possible utility of these nanoparticles for local electric field (voltage) sensing on the nanoscale. Here we show that charge separation across one (or more) heterostructure interface(s) with type-II band alignment (and the associated induced dipole) is crucial for an enhanced QCSE. To further gain insight into the experimental results, we numerically solved the Schrödinger and Poisson equations under self-consistent field approximation, including dielectric inhomogeneities. Both calculations and experiments suggest that the degree of initial charge separation (and the associated exciton binding energy) determines the magnitude of the QCSE in these structures.

Crystalline Ge quantum dots embedded in SiO2 matrix synthesized by plasma immersion ion implantation.

A new plasma process, i.e. a combination of plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition (PIII&D) and high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), was developed to implant non-gaseous ions into material surfaces. The new process has the great advantage that thin film deposition and non-gaseous ion implantation can be achieved in a single plasma chamber. In this study, Ge ions were successfully implanted into SiO(2) thin film, which resulted in uniformly and homogeneously distributed crystalline Ge quantum dots (Ge-QDs) embedded in a SiO(2) matrix even without a further annealing process. Broader areas of application of PIII&D technology are envisaged with this newly developed process.