On the Nature of Trapped-Hole States in CdS Nanocrystals and the Mechanism of their Diffusion

Recent transient absorption experiments on CdS nanorods suggest that photoexcited holes rapidly trap to the surface of these particles and then undergo diffusion along the rod surface. In this paper, we present a semiperiodic DFT model for the CdS nanocrystal surface, analyze it, and comment on the nature of both the hole-trap states and the mechanism by which the holes diffuse. Hole states near the top of the valence band form an energetic near continuum with the bulk, and localize to the non-bonding sp$^3$ orbitals on surface sulfur atoms. After localization, the holes form nonadiabatic small polarons that move between the sulfur orbitals on the surface of the particle in a series of uncorrelated, incoherent, thermally-activated hops at room temperature. The surface-trapped holes are deeply in the weak-electronic coupling limit and, as a result, undergo slow diffusion.Comment: 4 figure

Comparison of Phonon Damping Behavior in Quantum Dots Capped with Organic and Inorganic Ligands

Surface ligand modification of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals has been widely used as a means of controlling photoexcited-state generation, relaxation, and coupling to the environment. While progress has been made in understanding how surface ligand modification affects the behavior of electronic states, less is known about the influence of surface ligand modification on phonon behavior, which impacts relaxation dynamics and transport phenomena. In this work, we compare the dynamics of optical and acoustic phonons in CdTe quantum dots (QDs), CdTe/CdSe core/shell QDs capped with octadecylphosphonic acid ligands, and CdTe QDs capped with Se^2– to ascertain how ligand exchange from native aliphatic ligands to single-atom Se^2– ligands affects phonon behavior. We use transient absorption spectroscopy and observe modulations in the kinetics of excited-state decay due to QD lattice vibrations from both optical and acoustic phonons, which we describe using the damped oscillator model. The longitudinal optical phonons have similar frequencies and damping behavior in all three samples. In contrast, the longitudinal acoustic phonon mode in the Se^2–-capped CdTe QDs is severely damped, much more so than in CdTe and CdTe/CdSe QDs capped with the native aliphatic ligands. We attribute these differences in the acoustic phonon behavior to the differences in how the QD dissipates vibrational energy to its surroundings as a function of ligand identity. Our results indicate that these inorganic surface-capping ligands enhance not only the electronic but also the mechanical coupling of nanocrystals with their environment

Chalcogenide-Ligand Passivated CdTe Quantum Dots Can Be Treated as Core/Shell Semiconductor Nanostructures

Chalcogenide ligands (S^2–, Se^2–, Te^2–) are attractive candidates for passivation of surfaces of colloidal quantum dots (QDs) because they can enhance interparticle or particle–adsorbate electronic coupling. Devices made with QDs in which insulating long-chain aliphatic ligands were replaced with chalcogenide ligands have exhibited improved charge transfer and transport characteristics. While these ligands enable promising device performance, their impact on the electronic structure of the QDs that they passivate is not understood. In this work, we describe significant (up to 250 meV) changes in band gap energies of CdTe QDs that occur when native aliphatic ligands are replaced with chalcogenides. These changes are dependent on the ligand and the particle size. To explain the observed changes in band gap energies, we used the single band effective mass approximation to model the ligand layer as a thin shell of Cd-chalcogenide formed by the bonding of chalcogenide ligands to partially coordinated Cd surface atoms. The model correctly predicted the observed trends in CdTe QD band gap energies. The model also predicts that electrons and holes in chalcogenide-capped QDs can be significantly delocalized outside the core/shell structure, enhancing electronic coupling between QDs and adjacent species. Our work provides a simple description of the electronic structure of chalcogenide-capped QDs and may prove useful for the design of QD-based devices

Quantum Efficiency of Charge Transfer Competing against Nonexponential Processes: The Case of Electron Transfer from CdS Nanorods to Hydrogenase

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Impact of Chalcogenide Ligands on Excited State Dynamics in CdSe Quantum Dots

The ligands that passivate the surfaces of semiconductor nanocrystals play an important role in excited state relaxation and charge transfer. Replacement of native long-chain organic ligands with chalcogenides has been shown to improve charge transfer in nanocrystal-based devices. In this report, we examine how surface-capping with S^2–, Se^2–, and Te^2– impacts photoexcited state relaxation in CdSe quantum dots (QDs). We use transient absorption spectroscopy with state-specific pumping to reveal the kinetics of electron and hole cooling, band edge electron relaxation, hole trapping, and trapped hole relaxation, all as a function of surface-capping ligand. We find that carrier cooling is not strongly dependent on the ligand. In contrast, band edge relaxation exhibits strong ligand dependence, with enhanced electron trapping in chalcogenide-capped QDs. This effect is the weakest with the S^2– ligand, but is very strong with Se^2– and Te^2–, such that the average band edge electron lifetimes for QDs capped with those ligands are under 100 ps. We conclude that, unlike the case of S^2–, improvements in electron transfer rates with Se^2– and Te^2– ligands may be overshadowed by the extreme electron lifetime shortening that may lead to low quantum yields of electron transfer

Competition between electron transfer, trapping, and recombination in CdS nanorod–hydrogenase complexes

International audienceElectron transfer from photoexcited CdS nanorods to [FeFe]-hydrogenase is a critical step in photochemical H2 production by CdS–hydrogenase complexes. By accounting for the distributions in the numbers of electron traps and enzymes adsorbed, we determine rate constants and quantum efficiencies for electron transfer from transient absorption measurements

Control of Elemental Distribution in the Nanoscale Solid-State Reaction That Produces (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx) Nanocrystals.

Solid-state chemical transformations at the nanoscale can be a powerful tool for achieving compositional complexity in nanomaterials. It is desirable to understand the mechanisms of such reactions and characterize the local-level composition of the resulting materials. Here, we examine how reaction temperature controls the elemental distribution in (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx) nanocrystals (NCs) synthesized via the solid-state nitridation of a mixture of nanoscale ZnO and ZnGa2O4 NCs. (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx) is a visible-light absorbing semiconductor that is of interest for applications in solar photochemistry. We couple elemental mapping using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM-EDS) with colocation analysis to study the elemental distribution and the degree of homogeneity in the (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx) samples synthesized at temperatures ranging from 650 to 900 °C with varying ensemble compositions (i.e., x values). Over this range of temperatures, the elemental distribution ranges from highly heterogeneous at 650 °C, consisting of a mixture of larger particles with Ga and N enrichment near the surface and very small NCs, to uniform particles with evenly distributed constituent elements for most compositions at 800 °C and above. We propose a mechanism for the formation of the (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx) NCs in the solid state that involves phase transformation of cubic spinel ZnGa2O4 to wurtzite (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx) and diffusion of the elements along with nitrogen incorporation. The temperature-dependence of nitrogen incorporation, bulk diffusion, and vacancy-assisted diffusion processes determines the elemental distribution at each synthesis temperature. Finally, we discuss how the visible band gap of (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx) NCs varies with composition and elemental distribution