QUANTUM DOTS: PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT
“Quantum Dots” are zero dimensional nanomaterial made of semiconductor whose excitations are
confined in all 3 spatial dimensions and has the ability to emit light by absorbing photons of particular
wavelength and can emit in different wavelengths and color depending on their composition and size.
They are so small that addition or removal of an electronic charge changes its properties in useful way. In
nanotechnology we called them as Quibts or quantum bits
They are made of various materials like Pb-Se, Cd-Se etc mainly composed of group II-IV, III-V, IV-VI
based on quantum science. They are configured through Lithographic technique , self assembly , MBE
etc, have advantages of tunable band gap and comparatively rigid i.e. they can be molded in 1d, 2d or 3d
and when arranged in definite array forms strong electric couplings and leads to multiple excitation of
photons.
They had numerous applications in displays, LEDs, thermoelastics, photonics and telecommunication,
security links, solar cells and photovoltaic, medical industries, biochips etc.
Quantum Dots synthesis although being expensive but its enormous application has drawn tremendous
attention towards its further research and development.

QUANTUM DOTS: GLOSSARY

1. BANDGAP:
The bandgap separates the valence band from the more energetic conduction band,
making it difficult for electrons to jump to the conduction band.

2. CONTINUOUS:
The set of physical conditions where energy levels are separated by such a small amount
of energy that for some processes, they may be treated as if they were not separated by any
energy amount at all.

3. DISCRETE:
The set of physical conditions where energy levels are separated by enough energy that
the addition or subtraction of one atom or electron to the crystal will measurably change the
energy of the bandgap.

4. ENERGY LEVELS:
The electrons of all materials may only have certain allowable energies as shown by
quantum mechanics. It is customary to describe each of these allowed energies as occurring at
'energy levels,'with the understanding that electrons can only exist at an energy level and not in
between them.

5. EXCITON:
An exciton is the term used to describe the electron-hole pair created when an electron
leaves the valence band and enters the conduction band. Excitons have a natural physical
separation between the electron and the hole that varies from substance to substance; this average
distance is called the Exciton Bohr Radius.

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6. QUANTUM CONFINEMENT:
The set of conditions under which a crystal is on the order of or smaller than the Exciton
Bohr Radius of its constituent compound. Under quantum confinement, energy levels may be
treated as discrete. By definition, quantum dots are in a state of quantum confinement.

QUANTUM DOTS : INTRODUCTION

A quantum dot is a semiconductor whose exitons are confined in all three spatial dimensions. They have
properties that are between those of bulk semiconductors and those of discrete molecules.

Quantum dots are semiconductors whose conducting characteristics are closely related to the size and
shape of the individual crystal. Generally, the smaller the size of the crystal, the larger the band gap, the
greater the difference in energy between the highest valence band and the lowest conduction band
becomes, therefore more energy is needed to excite the dot, and concurrently, more energy is released
when the crystal returns to its resting state.
The main advantages in using quantum dots is that because of the high level of control possible over the
size of the crystals produced, it is possible to have very precise control over the conductive properties of
the material.

In an unconfined (bulk) semiconductor, an electron-hole pair is typically bound within a characteristic

length, which is called the exciton Bohr radius and is estimated by replacing the positively charged
atomic core with the hole in the Bohr formula. If the electron and hole are constrained further, then
properties of the semiconductor change. This effect is a form of quantum confinement, and it is a key
feature in many emerging electronic structures.

QUANTUM DOTS - QUANTUM CONFINEMENT

Quantum dots are also made out of semiconductor material. The electrons in quantum dots have
a range of energies. The concepts of energy levels, bandgap, conduction band and valence band
still apply. However, there is a major difference. Excitons have an average physical separation
between the electron and hole, referred to as the Exciton Bohr Radius this physical distance is
different for each material. In bulk, the dimensions of the semiconductor crystal are much larger
than the Exciton Bohr Radius, allowing the exciton to extend to its natural limit. However, if the
size of a semiconductor crystal becomes small enough that it approaches the size of the material's
Exciton Bohr Radius, then the electron energy levels can no longer be treated as continuous -
they must be treated as discrete, meaning that there is a small and finite separation between
energy levels. This situation of discrete energy levels is called quantum confinement, and under
these conditions, the semiconductor material ceases to resemble bulk, and instead can be called a
quantum dot. This has large repercussions on the absorptive and emissive behavior of the
semiconductor material.

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Quantum Confinement

QUANTUM DOTS - A TUNABLE RANGE OF ENERGIES

Because quantum dots' electron energy levels are discrete rather than continuous, the addition or
subtraction of just a few atoms to the quantum dot has the effect of altering the boundaries of the
bandgap. Changing the geometry of the surface of the quantum dot also changes the bandgap
energy, owing again to the small size of the dot, and the effects of quantum confinement. The
bandgap in a quantum dot will always be energetically larger; therefore, we refer to the radiation
from quantum dots to be "blue shifted" reflecting the fact that electrons must fall a greater
distance in terms of energy and thus produce radiation of a shorter, and therefore "bluer"
wavelength.

Size Dependent Control of Bandgap in Quantum Dots

As with bulk semiconductor material, electrons tend to make transitions near the edges of the
bandgap. However, with quantum dots, the size of the bandgap is controlled simply by adjusting
the size of the dot. Because the emission frequency of a dot is dependent on the bandgap, it is
therefore possible to control the output wavelength of a dot with extreme precision. In effect, it is
possible for Evident Technologies to tune the bandgap of a dot, and therefore specify its "color"
output depending on the needs of the customer.

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Change In Wavelength With Size of Quantum Dots

QUANTUM DOT FEATURES

Quantum Dots- Tunable Absorption Pattern
In addition to emissive advantages, quantum dots display advantages in their absorptive
properties. In contrast to bulk semiconductors, which display a rather uniform absorption
spectrum, the absorption spectrum for quantum dots appears as a series of overlapping peaks that
get larger at shorter wavelengths. Owing once more to the discrete nature of electron energy
levels in quantum dots, each peak corresponds to an energy transition between discrete electron-
hole (exciton) energy levels. The quantum dots will not absorb light that has a wavelength longer
than that of the first exciton peak, also referred to as the absorption onset. Like all other optical
and electronic properties, the wavelength of the first exciton peak (and all subsequent peaks) is a
function of the composition and size of the quantum dot. Smaller quantum dots result in a first
exciton peak at shorter wavelengths.

Quantum Dots - Tunable Emission Pattern

The peak emission wavelength is bell-shaped (Gaussian) and occurs at a slightly longer
wavelength than the lowest energy exciton peak (the absorption onset). This energy separation is
what is referred to as the Stoke's Shift. An interesting property of quantum dots is that the peak

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emission wavelength is independent of the wavelength of the excitation light, assuming that it is
shorter than the wavelength of the absorption onset. The bandwidth of the emission spectra,
denoted as the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) stems from the temperature, natural
spectral line width of the quantum dots, and the size distribution of the population of quantum
dots within a solution or matrix material. Spectral emission broadening due to size distribution is
known as inhomogeneous broadening and is the largest contributor to the FWHM. Narrower size
distributions yield smaller FWHM. For CdSe, a 5% size distribution corresponds to ~ 30nm
FWHM.

Quantum Dots - Molecular Coupling

Colloidally prepared quantum dots are free floating and can be attached to a variety of molecules
via metal coordinating functional groups. These groups include but are not limited to thiol,
amine, nitrile, phosphine, phosphine oxide, phosphonic acid, carboxylic acid or others ligands.
This ability greatly increases the flexibility of quantum dots with respect to the types of
environments in which they can be applied. By bonding appropriate molecules to the surface, the
quantum dots can be dispersed or dissolved in nearly any solvent or incorporated into a variety of
inorganic and organic films. In addition, the surface chemistry can be used to effectively alter the
properties of the quantum dot, including brightness and electronic lifetime.

Quantum Dots - Quantum Yield

The percentage of absorbed photons that result in an emitted photon is called Quantum Yield
(QY). QY is controlled by the existence of nonradiative transition of electrons and holes between
energy levels- transitions that produce no electromagnetic radiation. Nonradiative recombination
largely occurs at the dot's surface and is therefore greatly influenced by the surface chemistry.

Adding Shells to Quantum Dots

It is established that capping a core quantum dot with a shell (several atomic layers of an
inorganic wide band semiconductor) reduces nonradiative recombination and results in brighter
emission, provided the shell is of a different semiconductor material with a wider bandgap than
the Core semiconductor material.

The higher QY of Core-Shell quantum dots comes about due to changes in the surface chemistry
of the core quantum dot. The surface of quantum dots that lack a shell has both free (unbonded)
electrons, in addition to crystal defects. Both of these characteristics tend to reduce QY by
allowing for nonradiative electron energy transitions at the surface. The addition of a shell
reduces the opportunities for these nonradiative transitions by giving conduction band electrons
an increased probability of directly relaxing to the valence band. The shell also neutralizes the
effects of many types of surface defects.

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QUANTUM DOT USES

 Displays
 LEDs
 Life Sciences
 Thermoelectrics
 Photonics & Telecommunications
 Security Inks
 Solar Cells & Photovoltaics

REFERENCES
 www.wikipedia.com
 www.evidenttech.com
 Quantum Dots by Paul Harrison (Wiley Interscience)
 Self assembled quantum dots by Zhiming M. Wang

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