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Nanocrystal-semiconductor interface: Atomic-resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscope study of lead sulfide nanocrystal quantum dots on crystalline silicon

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Abstract

We report on a cross-sectional high resolution transmission electron microscope study of lead sulfide nanocrystal quantum dots (NCQDs) dispersed on electron-transparent silicon nanopillars that enables nearly atomically-resolved simultaneous imaging of the entire composite: the quantum dot, the interfacial region, and the silicon substrate. Considerable richness in the nanocrystal shape and orientation with respect to the substrate lattice is observed. The average NCQD-substrate separation is found to be significantly smaller than the length of the ligands on the NCQDs. Complementary photoluminescence measurements show that light emission from PbS NCQDs on silicon is effectively quenched which we attribute to intrinsic mechanisms of energy and charge transfer from PbS NCQDs to Si.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 90089, USA

    Zachary Lingley & Anupam Madhukar

  2. Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 45433-7707, USA

    Krishnamurthy Mahalingam & Gail J. Brown

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 90089, USA

    Siyuan Lu & Anupam Madhukar

Authors
  1. Zachary Lingley
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  2. Krishnamurthy Mahalingam
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  3. Siyuan Lu
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  4. Gail J. Brown
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  5. Anupam Madhukar
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Correspondence to Anupam Madhukar.

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Lingley, Z., Mahalingam, K., Lu, S. et al. Nanocrystal-semiconductor interface: Atomic-resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscope study of lead sulfide nanocrystal quantum dots on crystalline silicon. Nano Res. 7, 219–227 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-013-0389-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-013-0389-4

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