Abstract
This chapter addresses the fundamental concepts needed to understand the impact of size reduction on the electronic structure and optoelectronic properties of semiconductor nanostructures, with emphasis on quantum confinement effects. This effect is explained by two different approaches: the “top-down” and the “bottom-up”. Subsequently, a brief description of the optical properties of semiconductor nanocrystals is presented. This is followed by sections discussing the essential characteristics of nanocrystals consisting of two (or more) different semiconductors joined together by heterointerfaces (i.e., heteronanocrystals). Moreover, the essential differences between the impact of size reduction on semiconductors in comparison to metals and insulators is discussed. The chapter ends by briefly discussing the potential applications of semiconductor nanoparticles.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Brynjolfsson, E., McAfee, A.: Winning the race with ever-smarter machines. MIT Sloan Manage. Rev. 53, 53 (2012)
Donega, C.D.M.: Synthesis and properties of colloidal heteronanocrystals. Chem. Soc. Rev. 40, 1512–1546 (2011)
Alivisatos, A.P.: Perspectives on the physical chemistry of semiconductor nanocrystals. J. Phys. Chem. 100, 13226–13239 (1996)
Rossetti, R., Brus, L.: Electron-hole recombination emission as a probe of surface-chemistry in aqueous CdS colloids. J. Phys. Chem. 86, 4470–4472 (1982)
Gaponenko, S.V.: Introduction to Nanophotonics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2010)
Klimov, V.I.: Spectral and dynamical properties of multiexcitons in semiconductor nanocrystals. Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 58, 635–673 (2007)
Efros, A.L., Rosen, M.: The electronic structure of semiconductor nanocrystals. Annu. Rev. Mater. Sci. 30, 475–521 (2000)
Lo, S.S., Mirkovic, T., Chuang, C., Burda, C., Scholes, G.D.: Emergent properties resulting from Type-II band alignment in semiconductor nanoheterostructures. Adv. Mater. 23, 180–197 (2011)
Kambhampati, P.: Hot exciton relaxation dynamics in semiconductor quantum dots: radiationless transitions on the nanoscale. J. Phys. Chem. C 115, 22089–22109 (2011)
Henderson, B., Imbusch, G.F.: Optical Spectroscopy of Inorganic Solids. Clarendon Press, Oxford (1989)
Bhattacharya, P., Ghosh, S., Stiff-Roberts, A.D.: Quantum dot opto-electronic devices. Annu. Rev. Mater. Res. 34, 1–40 (2004)
Elzerman, J.M., Hanson, R., van Beveren, L.H.W., Witkamp, B., Vandersypen, L.M.K., Kouwenhoven, L.P.: Single-shot read-out of an individual electron spin in a quantum dot. Nature 430, 431–435 (2004)
Tian, B., Kempa, T.J., Lieber, C.M.: Single nanowire photovoltaics. Chem. Soc. Rev. 38, 16–24 (2009)
Hochbaun, A.I., Yang, P.: Semiconductor nanowires for energy conversion. Chem. Rev. 110, 527–546 (2010)
Hocevar, M., Immink, G., Verheijen, M., Akopian, N., Zwiller, V., Kouwenhoven, L., Bakkers, E.: Growth and optical properties of axial hybrid III-V/silicon nanowires. Nature Commun. 3, 1266 (2012)
Bawendi, M.G., Steigerwald, M.L., Brus, L.E.: The quantum-mechanics of larger semiconductor clusters (quantum dots). Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 41, 477–496 (1990)
Delerue, C., Lannoo, M.: Nanostructures: Theory and Modelling. Springer, Berlin (2004)
An, J.M., Franceschetti, A., Dudiy, S.V., Zunger, A.: The peculiar electronic structure of PbSe quantum dots. Nano Lett. 6, 2728–2735 (2006)
Koole, R.: Fundamentals and applications of semiconductor nanocrystals Ph.D. Thesis, Utrecht University, Utrecht (2008)
Wright, J.C.: Chemistry 623 Notes-Experimental Spectroscopy. Dept. of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, pp. 47–69 (1990)
Lodahl, P., van Driel, A.F., Nikolaev, I.S., Irman, A., Overgaag, K., Vanmaekelbergh, D., Vos, W.L.: Controlling the dynamics of spontaneous emission from quantum dots by photonic crystals. Nature 430, 654–657 (2004)
Rogach, A.L., Klar, T.A., Lupton, J.M., Meijerink, A., Feldmann, J.: Energy transfer with semiconductor nanocrystals. J. Mater. Chem. 19, 1208–1221 (2009)
Förster, T.: Energiewanderung und Fluoreszenz. Naturwissenshaften 33, 166–175 (1946)
Reiss, P., Protière, M., Li, L.: Core/shell semiconductor nanocrystals. Small 5, 154–168 (2009)
Pandey, A., Guyot-Sionnest, P.: Intraband spectroscopy and band offsets of colloidal II-VI core/shell structures. J. Chem. Phys. 127, 104710 (2007)
Ivanov, S.A., Piryatinski, A., Nanda, J., Tretiak, S., Zavadil, K.R., Wallace, W.O., Werder, D., Klimov, V.I.: Type-II core/shell CdS/ZnSe nanocrystals: Synthesis, electronic structures, and spectroscopic properties. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 129, 11708–11719 (2007)
Donegá, C.D.M.: Formation of nanoscale spatially indirect excitons: evolution of the type-II optical character of CdTe/CdSe heteronanocrystals. Phys. Rev. B 81, 165303 (2010)
Grodzińska, D., Evers, W.H., Dorland, R., van Rijssel, J., van Huis, M.A., Meijerink, A., de Mello Donegá, C., Vanmaekelbergh, D.: Two-Fold emission from the S-Shell of PbSe/CdSe core/shell quantum dots. Small 7, 3493–3501 (2011)
Klimov, V.I., Ivanov, S.A., Nanda, J., Achermann, M., Bezel, I., McGuire, J.A., Piryatinski, A.: Single-exciton optical gain in semiconductor nanocrystals. Nature 447, 441–446 (2007)
Pandey, A., Guyot-Sionnest, P.: Slow electron cooling in colloidal quantum dots. Science 322, 929–932 (2008)
He, J., Lo, S.S., Kim, J., Scholes, G.D.: Control of exciton spin relaxation by electron-hole decoupling in type-II nanocrystal heterostructures. Nano Lett. 8, 4007–4013 (2008)
Kim, S., Fisher, B., Eisler, H., Bawendi, M.: Type-II quantum dots: CdTe/CdSe(core/shell) and CdSe/ZnTe(core/shell) heterostructures. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 11466–11467 (2003)
Shirasaki, Y., Supran, G.J., Bawendi, M.G., Bulovic, V.: Emergence of colloidal quantum-dot light-emitting technologies. Nat. Photon. 7, 13–23 (2013)
Bimberg, D., Pohl, U.W.: Quantum dots: promises and accomplishments. Mater. Today 14, 388–397 (2011)
Garcıa-Santamarıa, F., Chen, Y., Vela, J., Schaller, R.D., Hollingsworth, J.A., Klimov, V.I.: Suppressed Auger recombination in “giant” nanocrystals boosts optical gain performance. Nano Lett. 9, 3482–3488 (2009)
Konstantatos, G., Sargent, E.H.: Colloidal quantum dot optoelectronics and photovoltaics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2013)
Doane, T.L., Burda, C.: The unique role of nanoparticles in nanomedicine: Imaging, drug delivery and therapy. Chem. Soc. Rev. 41, 2885–2911 (2012)
Lunt, R.R., Osedach, T.P., Brown, P.R., Rowehl, J.A., Bulovic, V.: Practical roadmap and limits to nanostructured photovoltaics. Adv. Mater. 23, 5712–5727 (2011)
Kamat, P.V.: Boosting the efficiency of quantum dot sensitized solar cells through modulation of interfacial charge transfer. Acc. Chem. Res. 45, 1906–1915 (2012)
Kramer, I.J., Sargent, E.H.: Colloidal quantum dot photovoltaics: a path forward. ACS Nano 5, 8506–8514 (2011)
Nozik, A.J., Conibeer, G., Beard, M.C.: Advanced concepts in photovoltaics. Royal Society of Chemistry, Oxford (2014)
Krumer, Z., Pera, S.J., van Dijk-Moes, R.J.A., Zhao, Y., de Brouwer, A.F.P., Groeneveld, E., van Sark, W.G.J.H.M., Schropp, R. E.I., Donega, C.D.M.: Tackling self-absorption in luminescent solar concentrators with type-II colloidal quantum dots. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 111, 57–65 (2013)
Fan, W., Zhang, Q., Wang, Y.: Semiconductor-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic H2 production and CO2 conversion. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 15, 2632–2649 (2013)
O’Connor, T., Panov, M.S., Mereshchenko, A., Tarnovsky, A.N., Lorek, R., Perera, D., Diederich, G., Lambright, S., Moroz, P., Zamkov, M.: The effect of the charge-separating interface on exciton dynamics in photocatalytic colloidal heteronanocrystals. ACS Nano 6, 8156–8165 (2012)
Groeneveld, E.: Synthesis and optical spectroscopy of (hetero)-nanocrystals. Ph.D. Thesis, Utrecht University, Utrecht (2012)
Koole, R., Allan, G., Delerue, C., Meijerink, A., Vanmaekelbergh, D., Houtepen, A.J.: Optical Investigation of Quantum Confinement in PbSe Nanocrystals at Different Points in the Brillouin Zone. Small 4, 127–133 (2008)
Link, S., El-Sayed, M.A.: Size and temperature dependence of the plasmon absorption of colloidal gold nanoparticles. J. Phys. Chem. B 103, 4212–4217 (1999)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Koole, R., Groeneveld, E., Vanmaekelbergh, D., Meijerink, A., de Mello Donegá, C. (2014). Size Effects on Semiconductor Nanoparticles. In: de Mello Donegá, C. (eds) Nanoparticles. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44823-6_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44823-6_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-44822-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-44823-6
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)