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-ray absorbance spectroscopy to show that the majority of Zn in In(Zn)P QDs is located at their surface as Zn carboxylates. However, a small amount of Zn is present inside the bulk of the QDs with the consequent contraction of their lattice, as confirmed by combining high-resolution high-angle annular dark-field imaging scanning transmission electron microscopy with statistical parameter estimation theory. We further demonstrate that the Zn content and its incorporation into the QDs can be tuned by the ligation of commonly employed Zn carboxylate precursors: the use of highly reactive Zn acetate leads to the formation of undesired Zn₃P₂ and the final nanostructures being characterized by broad optical features, whereas Zn carboxylates with longer carbon chains lead to InP crystals with much lower zinc content and narrow optical features. These results can explain the differences between structural and optical properties of In(Zn)P samples reported across the literature and provide a rational method to tune the amount of Zn in InP nanocrystals and to drive the incorporation of Zn either as surface Zn carboxylate, as a substitutional dopant inside the InP crystal lattice, or even predominantly as Zn₃P₂.

To improve the stability and carrier mobility of quantum dot (QD) optoelectronic devices, encapsulation or pore infilling processes are advantageous. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is an ideal technique to infill and overcoat QD films, as it provides excellent control over film growth at the sub-nanometer scale and results in conformal coatings with mild processing conditions. Different thicknesses of crystalline ZnO films deposited on InP QD films are studied with spectrophotometry and time-resolved microwave conductivity measurements. High carrier mobilities of 4 cm² (V s)⁻¹ and charge separation between the QDs and ZnO are observed. Furthermore, the results confirm that the stability of QD thin films is strongly improved when the inorganic ALD coating is applied. Finally, proof-of-concept photovoltaic devices of InP QD films are demonstrated with an ALD-grown ZnO electron extraction layer.

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 to increase the PLQY and stability of indium phosphide QDs by developing lattice matched InP/MgSe core-shell nanoheterostructures. The choice of MgSe comes from the fact that, in theory, it has a near-perfect lattice match with InP, provided MgSe is grown in the zinc blende crystal structure, which can be achieved by alloying with zinc. To retain lattice matching, we used Zn in both the core and shell and we fabricated InZnP/Zn_xMg_1-xSe core/shell QDs. To identify the most suitable conditions for the shell growth, we first developed a synthesis route to Zn_xMg_1-xSe nanocrystals (NCs) wherein Mg is effectively incorporated. Our optimized procedure was employed for the successful growth of Zn_xMg_1-xSe shells around In(Zn)P QDs. The corresponding core/shell systems exhibit PLQYs higher than those of the starting In(Zn)P QDs and, more importantly, a higher color purity upon increasing the Mg content. The results are discussed in the context of a reduced density of interface states upon using better lattice matched Zn_xMg_1-xSe shells.

In this work, we systematically study the spectroelectrochemical response of CdSe quantum dots (QDs), CdSe/CdS core/shell QDs with varying CdS shell thicknesses, and CdSe/CdS/ZnS core/shell/shell QDs in order to elucidate the influence of localized surface trap states on the optoelectronic properties. By correlating the differential absorbance and the photoluminescence upon electrochemically raising the Fermi level, we reveal that trap states near the conduction band (CB) edge give rise to nonradiative recombination pathways regardless of the CdS shell thickness, evidenced by quenching of the photoluminescence before the CB edge is populated with electrons. This points in the direction of shallow trap states localized on the CdS shell surface that give rise to nonradiative recombination pathways. We suggest that these shallow trap states reduce the quantum yield because of enhanced hole trapping when the Fermi level is raised electrochemically. We show that these shallow trap states are removed when additional wide band gap ZnS shells are grown around the CdSe/CdS core/shell QDs.

In transient absorption (TA) measurements on Cd-chalcogenide quantum dots (QDs), the presence of a band-edge (BE) bleach signal is commonly attributed entirely to conduction-band electrons in the 1S(e) state, neglecting contributions from BE holes. While this has been the accepted view for more than 20 years, and has often been used to distinguish electron and hole kinetics, the reason for the absence of a hole contribution to the BE-bleach has remained unclear. Here, we show with three independent experiments that holes do in fact have a significant impact on the BE-bleach of well-passivated Cd-chalcogenide QD samples. Transient absorption experiments on high photoluminescence quantum yield CdSe/CdS/ZnS core-shell-shell QDs clearly show an increase of the band-edge bleach as holes cool down to the band edge. The relative contribution of electron-to-hole bleach is 2:1, as predicted by theory. The same measurements on core-only CdSe QDs with a lower quantum yield do not show a contribution of holes to the band-edge bleach. We assign the lack of hole bleach to the presence of ultrafast hole trapping in samples with insufficient passivation of the QD surface. In addition, we show measurements of optical gain in core-shell-shell QD solutions, providing clear evidence of a significant hole contribution to the BE transient absorption signal. Finally, we present spectroelectrochemical measurements on CdTe QDs films, showing the presence of a BE-bleach for both electron and hole injections. The presence of a contribution of holes to the bleach in passivated Cd-chalcogenides QDs bears important implications for quantitative studies on optical gain as well as for TA determinations of carrier dynamics.

Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) allow great flexibility in the design of optoelectronic devices, thanks to their size-dependent optical and electronic properties and the possibility to fabricate thin films with solution-based processing. In particular, in QD-based heterojunctions, the band gap of both components can be controlled by varying the size of the QDs. However, control over the band alignment between the two materials is required to tune the dynamics of carrier transfer across a heterostructure. We demonstrate that ligand exchange strategies can be used to control the band alignment of PbSe and CdSe QDs in a mixed QD solid, shifting it from a type-I to a type-II alignment. The change in alignment is observed in both spectroelectrochemical and transient absorption measurements, leading to a change in the energy of the conduction band edges in the two materials and in the direction of electron transfer upon photoexcitation. Our work demonstrates the possibility to tune the band offset of QD heterostructures via control of the chemical species passivating the QD surface, allowing full control over the energetics of the heterostructure without requiring changes in the QD composition.

Indium antimonide (InSb) quantum dots (QDs) have unique and interesting photophysical properties, but widespread experimentation with InSb QDs is lacking due to the difficulty in synthesizing this material. The key experimental challenge in fabricating InSb QDs is preparing a suitable Sb-precursor in the correct oxidation state that reacts with the In-precursor in a controllable manner. Here, we review and discuss the synthetic strategies for making colloidal InSb QDs and present a new reaction scheme yielding small (∼1 nm diameter) InSb QDs. This was accomplished by employing Sb(NMe₂)₃ as the antimony precursor and by screening different reducing agents that can selectively reduce it to stibine in situ. The released SbH₃, subsequently, reacts with In carboxylate to form small InSb clusters. The absorption features are moderately tunable (from 400 nm to 660 nm) by the amount and rate of reductant addition as well as the temperature of injection and subsequent annealing. Optical properties were probed with transient absorption spectroscopy and show complex time and spectral dependencies.

Thermalization losses limit the photon-to-power conversion of solar cells at the high-energy side of the solar spectrum, as electrons quickly lose their energy relaxing to the band edge. Hot-electron transfer could reduce these losses. Here, we demonstrate fast and efficient hot-electron transfer between lead selenide and cadmium selenide quantum dots assembled in a quantum-dot heterojunction solid. In this system, the energy structure of the absorber material and of the electron extracting material can be easily tuned via a variation of quantum-dot size, allowing us to tailor the energetics of the transfer process for device applications. The efficiency of the transfer process increases with excitation energy as a result of the more favorable competition between hot-electron transfer and electron cooling. The experimental picture is supported by time-domain density functional theory calculations, showing that electron density is transferred from lead selenide to cadmium selenide quantum dots on the sub-picosecond timescale.

The processes that govern radiative recombination in ternary CuInS₂ (CIS) nanocrystals (NCs) have been heavily debated, but recently, several research groups have come to the same conclusion that a photoexcited electron recombines with a localized hole on a Cu-related trap state. Furthermore, it has been observed that single CIS NCs display narrower photoluminescence (PL) line widths than the ensemble, which led to the conclusion that within the ensemble there is a distribution of Cu-related trap states responsible for PL. In this work, we probe this trap-state distribution with in situ photoluminescence spectroelectrochemistry. We find that Cu²⁺ states result in individual "dark" nanocrystals, whereas Cu⁺ states result in "bright" NCs. Furthermore, we show that we can tune the PL position, intensity, and line width in a cyclic fashion by injecting or removing electrons from the trap-state distribution, thereby converting a subset of "dark" Cu²⁺ containing NCs into "bright" Cu⁺ containing NCs and vice versa. The electrochemical injection of electrons results in brightening, broadening, and a red shift of the PL, in line with the activation of a broad distribution of "dark" NCs (Cu²⁺ states) into "bright" NCs (Cu⁺ states) and a rise of the Fermi level within the ensemble trap-state distribution. The opposite trend is observed for electrochemical oxidation of Cu⁺ states into Cu²⁺. Our work shows that there is a direct correlation between the line width of the ensemble Cu⁺/Cu²⁺ trap-state distribution and the characteristic broad-band PL feature of CIS NCs and between Cu²⁺ cations in the photoexcited state (bright) and in the electrochemically oxidized ground state (dark).

Energy levels in the band gap arising from surface states can dominate the optical and electronic properties of semiconductor nanocrystal quantum dots (QDs). Recent theoretical work has predicted that such trap states in II-VI and III-V QDs arise only from two-coordinated anions on the QD surface, offering the hypothesis that Lewis acid (Z-type) ligands should be able to completely passivate these anionic trap states. In this work, we provide experimental support for this hypothesis by demonstrating that Z-type ligation is the primary cause of PL QY increase when passivating undercoordinated CdTe QDs with various metal salts. Optimized treatments with InCl₃ or CdCl₂ afford a near-unity (>90%) photoluminescence quantum yield (PL QY), whereas other metal halogen or carboxylate salts provide a smaller increase in PL QY as a result of weaker binding or steric repulsion. The addition of non-Lewis acidic ligands (amines, alkylammonium chlorides) systematically gives a much smaller but non-negligible increase in the PL QY. We discuss possible reasons for this result, which points toward a more complex and dynamic QD surface. Finally we show that Z-type metal halide ligand treatments also lead to a strong increase in the PL QY of CdSe, CdS, and InP QDs and can increase the efficiency of sintered CdTe solar cells. These results show that surface anions are the dominant source of trap states in II-VI and III-V QDs and that passivation with Lewis acidic Z-type ligands is a general strategy to fix those traps. Our work also provides a method to tune the PL QY of QD samples from nearly zero up to near-unity values, without the need to grow epitaxial shells.