skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Exciton Recombination Pathways in AgInS 2 Colloidal Nanocrystals

Journal Article · · Energy Material Advances
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [5]; ORCiD logo [1];  [5];  [3]; ORCiD logo [6];  [7]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca, via Roberto Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano, Italy
  2. Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio 34/3, 20133 Milano, Italy
  3. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy
  4. Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca, via Roberto Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano, Italy, Glass to Power SpA, Via Fortunato Zeni 8, 38068 RoveretoItaly
  5. Beijing Key Laboratory of Construction-Tailorable Advanced Functional Materials and Green Applications, School of Materials Science &, Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
  6. Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio 34/3, 20133 Milano, Italy, IFN-CNR, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 MilanoItaly
  7. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA

Ternary I-III-VI 2 nanocrystals (NCs), such as AgInS 2 and CuInS 2 , are garnering interest as heavy-metal-free materials for photovoltaics, luminescent solar concentrators, LEDs, and bioimaging. The origin of the emission and absorption properties in this class of NCs is still a subject of debate. Recent theoretical and experimental studies revealed that the characteristic Stokes-shifted and long-lived luminescence of stoichiometric CuInS 2 NCs arises from the detailed structure of the valence band featuring two sublevels with different parity. The same valence band substructure is predicted to occur in AgInS 2 NCs, yet no experimental confirmation is available to date. Here, we use complementary spectroscopic, spectro-electrochemical, and magneto-optical investigations as a function of temperature to investigate the band structure and the excitonic recombination mechanisms in stoichiometric AgInS 2 NCs. Transient transmission measurements reveal the signatures of two subbands with opposite parity, and photoluminescence studies at cryogenic temperatures evidence a dark state emission due to enhanced exchange interaction, consistent with the behavior of stoichiometric CuInS 2 NCs. Lowering the temperature as well as applying reducing electrochemical potentials further suppress electron trapping, which represents the main nonradiative channel for exciton decay, leading to nearly 100% emission efficiency.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Science Foundation (NSF); Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001; DMR-1644779; 2015WTW7J3; 51872030; 51631001
OSTI ID:
1909317
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1804374
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-21-21348; 2021/1959321
Journal Information:
Energy Material Advances, Journal Name: Energy Material Advances Vol. 2021; ISSN 2692-7640
Publisher:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (49)

Investigation of AgInS2/ZnS Quantum Dots by Magnetic Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy journal November 2019
Spectro-electrochemical Probing of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Processes in Exciton Recombination in I–III–VI 2 Nanocrystals journal June 2017
Self-assembled CdSe/CdS nanorod micro-lasers fabricated from solution by capillary jet deposition: Self-assembled CdSe/CdS nanorod lasers fabricated by capillary jet deposition journal June 2012
Fabrication of a white electroluminescent device based on bilayered yellow and blue quantum dots journal January 2015
Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue Amplified Spontaneous Emission and Lasing Using Colloidal CdSe Nanoplatelets journal September 2015
Inherently Broadband Photoluminescence in Ag–In–S/ZnS Quantum Dots Observed in Ensemble and Single-Particle Studies journal January 2019
Single-Particle Photoluminescence Spectra, Blinking, and Delayed Luminescence of Colloidal CuInS 2 Nanocrystals journal July 2016
Prospects of Nanoscience with Nanocrystals journal January 2015
Solution-Processed CuInS 2 -Based White QD-LEDs with Mixed Active Layer Architecture journal March 2017
Highly efficient large-area colourless luminescent solar concentrators using heavy-metal-free colloidal quantum dots journal August 2015
Photofunctional Materials Fabricated with Chalcopyrite-Type Semiconductor Nanoparticles Composed of AgInS 2 and Its Solid Solutions journal January 2014
Excitonic pathway to photoinduced magnetism in colloidal nanocrystals with nonmagnetic dopants journal December 2017
Heterovalent-Doping-Enabled Efficient Dopant Luminescence and Controllable Electronic Impurity Via a New Strategy of Preparing II−VI Nanocrystals journal March 2015
Luminescence enhancement mechanisms of AgInS2/ZnS core/shell nanoparticles fabricated by suppressing quaternary alloying journal January 2020
Copper’s Role in the Photoluminescence of Ag 1– x Cu x InS 2 Nanocrystals, from Copper-Doped AgInS 2 ( x ∼ 0) to CuInS 2 ( x = 1) journal December 2018
Quantized Electronic Doping towards Atomically Controlled “Charge-Engineered” Semiconductor Nanocrystals journal January 2019
Energy transfer in aggregated CuInS 2 /ZnS core-shell quantum dots deposited as solid films journal December 2016
Spectroscopic and Device Aspects of Nanocrystal Quantum Dots journal September 2016
Luminescent Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystals Containing Copper: Synthesis, Photophysics, and Applications journal May 2016
Giant Stokes Shifts in AgInS 2 Nanocrystals with Trapped Charge Carriers journal May 2019
Efficient Synthesis of Highly Luminescent Copper Indium Sulfide-Based Core/Shell Nanocrystals with Surprisingly Long-Lived Emission journal February 2011
Light Emission Mechanisms in CuInS 2 Quantum Dots Evaluated by Spectral Electrochemistry journal September 2017
Evaluating the potential of using quantum dots for monitoring electrical signals in neurons journal April 2018
Optically pumped colloidal-quantum-dot lasing in LED-like devices with an integrated optical cavity journal January 2020
Energy band structure of CuInS 2 and optical spectra of CuInS 2 nanocrystals journal July 2015
Transient Lattice Response upon Photoexcitation in CuInSe 2 Nanocrystals with Organic or Inorganic Surface Passivation journal September 2020
Ternary and quaternary metal chalcogenide nanocrystals: synthesis, properties and applications journal January 2013
Evidence for the Band‐Edge Exciton of CuInS 2 Nanocrystals Enables Record Efficient Large‐Area Luminescent Solar Concentrators journal November 2019
Solution-processable integrated CMOS circuits based on colloidal CuInSe2 quantum dots journal October 2020
Spectroscopic insights into high defect tolerance of Zn:CuInSe2 quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells journal May 2020
Valence-Band Electronic Structures of Cu + -Doped ZnS, Alloyed Cu–In–Zn–S, and Ternary CuInS 2 Nanocrystals: A Unified Description of Photoluminescence across Compositions journal July 2018
New Generation Cadmium-Free Quantum Dots for Biophotonics and Nanomedicine journal September 2016
Synthesis and Photophysical Properties of Ternary I–III–VI AgInS 2 Nanocrystals: Intrinsic versus Surface States journal April 2011
Single-particle spectroscopy of I–III–VI semiconductor nanocrystals: spectral diffusion and suppression of blinking by two-color excitation journal January 2016
Synthesis of Semiconductor Nanocrystals, Focusing on Nontoxic and Earth-Abundant Materials journal July 2016
Role of Nonradiative Defects and Environmental Oxygen on Exciton Recombination Processes in CsPbBr 3 Perovskite Nanocrystals journal May 2017
Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors journal June 1988
Photoluminescence Properties and Its Origin of AgInS 2 Quantum Dots with Chalcopyrite Structure journal December 2010
From Large-Scale Synthesis to Lighting Device Applications of Ternary I–III–VI Semiconductor Nanocrystals: Inspiring Greener Material Emitters journal January 2018
Hydroxyl-Terminated CuInS 2 Based Quantum Dots: Toward Efficient and Bright Light Emitting Diodes journal February 2016
Highly Luminescent CuInS 2 /ZnS Core/Shell Nanocrystals: Cadmium-Free Quantum Dots for In Vivo Imaging journal June 2009
Tunable White Fluorescent Copper Gallium Sulfide Quantum Dots Enabled by Mn Doping journal May 2016
Size-Dependent Photovoltaic Performance of CuInS 2 Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells journal November 2014
Evidence of Band-Edge Hole Levels Inversion in Spherical CuInS 2 Quantum Dots journal September 2018
Phonon Spectra of Strongly Luminescent Nonstoichiometric Ag–In–S, Cu–In–S, and Hg–In–S Nanocrystals of Small Size journal June 2020
Tunable Photoelectrochemical Properties of Chalcopyrite AgInS 2 Nanoparticles Size-Controlled with a Photoetching Technique journal October 2012
Controlling the Electronic Energy Structure of ZnS–AgInS 2 Solid Solution Nanocrystals for Photoluminescence and Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution journal October 2015
Unusual Spectral Diffusion of Single CuInS 2 Quantum Dots Sheds Light on the Mechanism of Radiative Decay journal January 2021
Singlet–Triplet Splittings in the Luminescent Excited States of Colloidal Cu + :CdSe, Cu + :InP, and CuInS 2 Nanocrystals: Charge-Transfer Configurations and Self-Trapped Excitons journal September 2015

Similar Records

Evidence for the Band-Edge Exciton of CuInS2 Nanocrystals Enables Record Efficient Large-Area Luminescent Solar Concentrators
Journal Article · Fri Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2019 · Advanced Functional Materials · OSTI ID:1909317

Origin of Photoluminescence and XAFS Study of (ZnS)1-x(AgInS2)x Nanocrystals
Journal Article · Mon Mar 10 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters · OSTI ID:1909317

Special Features of AgIn{sub 5}S{sub 8} Luminescence and Photoconductivity Under the Action of Laser Radiation
Journal Article · Fri Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Russian Physics Journal · OSTI ID:1909317