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Quantitative modeling of the role of surface traps in CdSe/CdS/ZnS nanocrystal photoluminescence decay dynamics.

ABSTRACT: Charge carrier trapping is an important phenomenon in nanocrystal (NC) decay dynamics because it reduces photoluminescence (PL) quantum efficiencies and obscures efforts to understand the interaction of NC excitons with their surroundings. Particularly crucial to our understanding of excitation dynamics in, e.g., multiNC assemblies, would be a way of differentiating between processes involving trap states and those that do not. Direct optical measurement of NC trap state processes is not usually possible because they have negligible transition dipole moments; however, they are known to indirectly affect exciton photoluminescence. Here, we develop a framework, based on Marcus electron transfer theory, to determine NC trap state dynamics from time-resolved NC exciton PL measurements. Our results demonstrate the sensitivity of PL to interfacial dynamics, indicating that the technique can be used as an indirect but effective probe of trap distribution changes. We anticipate that this study represents a step toward understanding how excitons in nanocrystals interact with their surroundings: a quality that must be optimized for their efficient application in photovoltaics, photodetectors, or chemical sensors.

SUBMITTER: Jones M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2651251 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Quantitative modeling of the role of surface traps in CdSe/CdS/ZnS nanocrystal photoluminescence decay dynamics.

Jones Marcus M Lo Shun S SS Scholes Gregory D GD

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20090213 9

Charge carrier trapping is an important phenomenon in nanocrystal (NC) decay dynamics because it reduces photoluminescence (PL) quantum efficiencies and obscures efforts to understand the interaction of NC excitons with their surroundings. Particularly crucial to our understanding of excitation dynamics in, e.g., multiNC assemblies, would be a way of differentiating between processes involving trap states and those that do not. Direct optical measurement of NC trap state processes is not usually ...[more]

PMID: 19218443

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Project description:To study the influence of the chemical and crystalline composition of core/shell NCs on their photoluminescence (PL) the mean structural profile of a large ensemble of NCs has to be retrieved in atomic resolution. This can be achieved by retrieving the chemical profile of core/shell NCs using anomalous small angle x-ray scattering (ASAXS) in combination with the analysis of powder diffraction data recorded by wide angle x-ray scattering (WAXS). In the current synchrotron based study, we investigate CdSe/CdS core/shell NCs with different core dimensions by recording simultaneously ASAXS and WAXS spectra. The CdS shells are grown epitaxial on nominal spherical CdSe cores with core diameters from around 3.5-5.5 nm. Three different CdSe shell thicknesses are realized by depositing around 4, 6, and 8 monolayers (MLs) of CdSe. We reveal that the epitaxial core/shell structure depicts a chemical sharp interface, even after a post growth annealing step. With increasing NC diameter, however, the CdSe/CdS NCs deviate significantly from a spherical shape. Instead an elliptical particle shape with pronounced surface facets for the larger core/shell NCs is found. In combination with the powder diffraction data we could relate this anisotropic shape to a mixture of crystal phases within the CdSe core. The smallest CdSe cores exhibit a pure hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure, whereas the larger ones also possess a cubic zincblende phase fraction. This mixed crystal phase fractions lead to a non-spherical shell growth with different thicknesses along specific crystallographic directions: The long axes are terminated by basal crystal faces parallel either to the a- or c-axis, the short axes by "tilted" pyramidal planes. By combining these structural data with the measured PL quantum yield values, we can clearly connect the optical output of the NCs to their shape and to their shell thickness. Above 6 ML CdS shell-thickness no further increase of the PL can be observed, but for large aspect ratio values the PL is significantly decreased. The gained understanding of the internal crystal structure on CdSe/CdS NCs is general applicable for a precise tuning of the optical properties of crystalline core/shell NCs.

Dataset Information

Quantitative modeling of the role of surface traps in CdSe/CdS/ZnS nanocrystal photoluminescence decay dynamics.

Publications

Quantitative modeling of the role of surface traps in CdSe/CdS/ZnS nanocrystal photoluminescence decay dynamics.

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