Process-Dependent Properties in Colloidally Synthesized “Giant” Core/Shell Nanocrystal Quantum Dots
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
Due to their characteristic bright and stable photoluminescence, semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots (NQDs) have attracted much interest as efficient light emitters for applications from single-particle tracking to solid-state lighting. Despite their numerous enabling traits, however, NQD optical properties are frustratingly sensitive to their chemical environment, exhibit fluorescence intermittency ('blinking'), and are susceptible to Auger recombination, an efficient nonradiative decay process. Previously, we showed for the first time that colloidal CdSe/CdS core/shell nanocrystal quantum dots (NQDs) comprising ultrathick shells (number of shell monolayers, n, > 10) grown by protracted successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) leads to remarkable photostability and significantly suppressed blinking behavior as a function of increasing shell thickness. We have also shown that these so-called 'giant' NQDs (g-NQDs) afford nearly complete suppression of non-radiative Auger recombination, revealed in our studies as long biexciton lifetimes and efficient multiexciton emission. The unique behavior of this core/shell system prompted us to assess correlations between specific physicochemical properties - beyond shell thickness - and functionality. Here, we demonstrate the ability of particle shape/faceting, crystalline phase, and core size to determine ensemble and single-particle optical properties (quantum yield/brightness, blinking, radiative lifetimes). Significantly, we show how reaction process parameters (surface-stabilizing ligands, ligand:NQD ratio, choice of 'inert' solvent, and modifications to the SILAR method itself) can be tuned to modify these function-dictating NQD physical properties, ultimately leading to an optimized synthetic approach that results in the complete suppression of blinking. We find that the resulting 'guiding principles' can be applied to other NQD compositions, allowing us to achieve non-blinking behavior in the near-infrared. Lastly, in addition to realizing novel light-emission properties by refining nanoscale architectures at the single-NQD level, we also investigate collective properties by assembling our core/shell NQDs into larger scale arrays.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- NIH-NIGMS
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1043029
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-12-21985; TRN: US201213%%56
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2012 MRS Spring Meeting ; 2012-04-09 - 2012-04-09 ; San Francisco, California, United States
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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