Abstract and subjects
Particle-size or ‘quantum-confinement’ effects have been used for decades to tune semiconductor opto-electronic properties. More recently, particle size control as the primary means for properties control has been succeeded by nanoscale hetero-structuring. In this case, the nanosized particle is modified to include internal, nanoscale interfaces, generally defined by compositional variations that induce additional changes to semiconductor properties. These changes can entail enhancements to the size-induced properties as well as unexpected or ‘emergent’ behaviors. Common structural motifs include enveloping a spherical semiconductor nanocrystal, i.e., a quantum dot, within a shell of a different composition.
In this talk, I will discuss how solution-phase synthesis can be used to create these structures with precisely ‘engineered’ complexity. Most notably, I will review our experiences with so-called ‘giant’ quantum dots that, due to their internal nanoscale structure, exhibit a range of novel behaviors, including being non-blinking and non-photobleaching (Chen et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 5026; Ghosh et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 9634; Dennis et al. Nano Lett. 2012 12, 5545; Acharya et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 3755), and remarkably efficient emitters of ‘multi-excitons’ due to extreme suppression of Auger recombination (Mangum et al. Nanoscale 2014, 6, 3712; Gao et al. Adv. Optical Mater. 2015, 3, 39). I will discuss recent work extending non-blinking behavior to the blue/green and “dual-color” emission, and show how correlated optical/structural characterization can reveal new information regarding structure-property relations to guide new nanomaterials development (Orfield et al. ACS Nano, Article ASAP).