Understanding and Preventing Photoluminescence Quenching to Achieve Unity Photoluminescence Quantum Yield in Yb:YLF Nanocrystals

Ytterbium-doped LiYF4 (Yb:YLF) is a commonly used material for laser applications, as a photon upconversion medium, and for optical refrigeration. As nanocrystals (NCs), the material is also of interest for biological and physical applications. Unfortunately, as with most phosphors, with the reduction in size comes a large reduction of the...

Nucleation and Growth of Bipyramidal Yb:LiYF4 Nanocrystals─Growing Up in a Hot Environment

Lanthanide-doped LiYF4 (Ln:YLF) is commonly used for a broad variety of optical applications, such as lasing, photon upconversion and optical refrigeration. When synthesized as nanocrystals (NCs), this material is also of interest for biological applications and fundamental physical studies. Until now, it was unclear how Ln:YLF NCs grow from...

Tuning the Driving Force for Charge Transfer in Perovskite-Chromophore Systems

Understanding the interplay between the kinetics and energetics of photophysical processes in perovskite-chromophore hybrid systems is crucial for realizing their potential in optoelectronics, photocatalysis, and light-harvesting applications. By combining steady-state optical characterizations and transient absorption spectroscopy, we have...

Limits of Defect Tolerance in Perovskite Nanocrystals: Effect of Local Electrostatic Potential on Trap States

One of the most promising properties of lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) is their defect tolerance. It is often argued that, due to the electronic structure of the conduction and valence bands, undercoordinated ions can only form localized levels inside or close to the band edges (i.e., shallow traps). However, multiple studies have...

Long-Range Charge Transport via Redox Ligands in Quantum Dot Assemblies

We present a strategy to actively engineer long-range charge transport in colloidal quantum dot assemblies by using ligand functionalities that introduce electronic states and provide a path for carrier transfer. This is a shift away from the use of inactive spacers to modulate charge transport through the lowering of the tunneling barrier...

Measurement of single nanoparticle anisotropy by laser induced optical alignment and Rayleigh scattering for determining particle morphology

We demonstrate the measurement of nanoparticle anisotropy by angularly resolved Rayleigh scattering of single optical levitated particles that are oriented in space via the trapping light in vacuum. This technique is applied to a range of particle geometries from perfect spherical nanodroplets to octahedral nanocrystals. We show that this...

Electrochemical p-Doping of CsPbBr₃Perovskite Nanocrystals

Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals have drawn attention as active light-absorbing or -emitting materials for opto-electronic applications due to their facile synthesis, intrinsic defect tolerance, and color-pure emission ranging over the entire visible spectrum. To optimize their application in, e.g., solar cells and light-emitting diodes, it...

Developing Lattice Matched ZnMgSe Shells on InZnP Quantum Dots for Phosphor Applications

Indium phosphide quantum dots (QDs) have drawn attention as alternatives to cadmium- and lead-based QDs that are currently used as phosphors in lamps and displays. The main drawbacks of InP QDs are, in general, a lower photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), a decreased color purity, and poor chemical stability. In this research, we attempted...

Locating and Controlling the Zn Content in In(Zn)P Quantum Dots

Zinc is routinely employed in the synthesis of InP quantum dots (QDs) to improve the photoluminescence efficiency and carrier mobility of the resulting In(Zn)P alloy nanostructures. The exact location of Zn in the final structures and the mechanism by which it enhances the optoelectronic properties of the QDs are debated. We use synchrotron X...