Direct Observation of sp-d Exchange Interaction in Mn2^2+^+doped All-inorganic Perovskite Quantum Dots (CsPbX3_3: X= Cl, Br)

The field of lead halide perovskite nanocrystal doping has witnessed notable progress in recent times, leading to the creation of innovative materials that showcase compelling physical characteristics and hold substantial technological promise. The true characteristics of these materials lie in the presence of dopant-carrier magnetic exchange interactions. This work presents the first direct observation of such exchange interactions in colloidal Mn-doped CsPbX$_3$ (X= Cl, Br) quantum dots (QDs). Here, we employ magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy to unambiguously demonstrate the successful doping and the presence of giant excitonic Zeeman splitting in CsPbX$_3$ (X= Cl, Br) QDs doped with Mn$^2$$^+$. The controllable tuning of effective exciton g-factors (g$_e$$_f$$_f$) within the range of 2.1 to (-)314 has been achieved through the process of doping with 6.9 % Mn in CsPbCl$_3$, which will facilitate their application towards future spintronicsComment: 29 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, 1 schematic, 4 equations, 1 TOC graphi

Growth mechanism of nanocrystals in solution: ZnO, a case study

We investigate the mechanism of growth of nanocrystals from solution using the case of ZnO. Spanning a wide range of values of the parameters, such as the temperature and the reactant concentration, that control the growth, our results establish a qualitative departure from the widely accepted diffusion controlled coarsening (Ostwald ripening) process quantified in terms of the Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner theory. Further, we show that these experimental observations can be qualitatively and quantitatively understood within a growth mechanism that is intermediate between the two well-defined limits of diffusion control and kinetic control.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Electronic structure of and Quantum size effect in III-V and II-VI semiconducting nanocrystals using a realistic tight binding approach

We analyze the electronic structure of group III-V semiconductors obtained within full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method and arrive at a realistic and minimal tight-binding model, parameterized to provide an accurate description of both valence and conduction bands. It is shown that cation sp3 - anion sp3d5 basis along with the next nearest neighbor model for hopping interactions is sufficient to describe the electronic structure of these systems over a wide energy range, obviating the use of any fictitious s* orbital, employed previously. Similar analyses were also performed for the II-VI semiconductors, using the more accurate FP-LAPW method compared to previous approaches, in order to enhance reliability of the parameter values. Using these parameters, we calculate the electronic structure of III-V and II-VI nanocrystals in real space with sizes ranging upto about 7 nm in diameter, establishing a quantitatively accurate description of the band-gap variation with sizes for the various nanocrystals by comparing with available experimental results from the literature.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

An accurate description of quantum size effects in InP nanocrystallites over a wide range of sizes

We obtain an effective parametrization of the bulk electronic structure of InP within the Tight Binding scheme. Using these parameters, we calculate the electronic structure of InP clusters with the size ranging upto 7.5 nm. The calculated variations in the electronic structure as a function of the cluster size is found to be in excellent agreement with experimental results over the entire range of sizes, establishing the effectiveness and transferability of the obtained parameter strengths.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, pdf file available at http://sscu.iisc.ernet.in/~sampan/publications.htm

Effect of Structural Modification on the Quantum-Size Effect in II-VI Semiconducting Nanocrystals

The electronic structure of group II-VI semiconductors in the stable wurtzite form is analyzed using state-of-the-art ab initio approaches to extract a simple and chemically transparent tight-binding model. This model can be used to understand the variation in the bandgap with size, for nanoclusters of these compounds. Results complement similar information already available for same systems in the zinc blende structure. A comparison with all available experimental data on quantum size effects in group II-VI semiconductor nanoclusters establishes a remarkable agreement between theory and experiment in both structure types, thereby verifying the predictive ability of our approach. The significant dependence of the quantum size effect on the structure type suggests that the experimental bandgap change at a given size compared to the bulk bandgap, may be used to indicate the structural form of the nanoclusters, particularly in the small size limit, where broadening of diffraction features often make it difficult to unambiguously determine the structure

Doped or not doped? Importance of the local structure of Mn (II) in Mn doped perovskite nanocrystals

Transition metal doping of semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) can generate new optical, magnetic, properties through dopant-host interaction. Although Mn2+ doping in semiconducting NCs has been studied for decades, Mn doped perovskite NCs have opened up new avenues for optoelectronic applications due to signature Mn d-d emission. However, Mn doping in bromide-based perovskite NCs have not shown this signature peak sowing doubts about the efficient doping in these systems. Here, we demonstrate that the chemical bonding and local environment of Mn obtained using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) is similar to that of chloride-based perovskites. However, the differences in optical properties between the chloride and bromide-based perovskites NCs arises due to fundamental difference in mechanism in perovskite NCs compared to the II-VI semiconductor quantum dots. This provides some insight into this problem from a fundamental perspective leading to more efficient synthesis techniques for applications

Study of the Growth of Capped ZnO Nanocrystals: A Route to Rational Synthesis

We report the study of complex and unexpected dependencies of nanocrystal size as well as nanocrystal-size distribution on various reaction parameters in the synthesis of ZnO nanocrystals using poly(vinyl pyrollidone) (PVP) as a capping agent. This method establishes a qualitatively different growth mechanism to the anticipated Ostwald ripening behavior. The study of size-distribution kinetics and an understanding of the observed non-monotonic behaviors provides a route to rational synthesis. We used a simple, but accurate, approach to estimate the size-distribution function of nanocrystals from the UV-absorption spectrum. Our results demonstrate the accuracy and generality of this approach, and we also illustrate its application to various semiconducting nanocrystals, such as ZnO, ZnS, and CdSe, over a wide size range (1.8-5.3 nm)

Photoluminescence Quenching in CsPbCl3_3 upon Fe Doping: Colloidal Synthesis, Structural and Optical Properties

Doped perovskite lead halide nanocrystals (PHNCs) are promising materials for various optoelectronic applications, but the major challenge faced by the researchers is the inability to dope foreign elements into perovskite lattice because of the strong lead-halide bond energies. In this work, we have used Fe as a dopant in CsPbCl$_3$ to explore different doping techniques based on the colloidal synthesis of PHNCs to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of different techniques. We are able to dope a relatively higher amount of Fe (∼10%) than reported and observe clear optical signatures when the precursor does not have pre-existing Pb−Cl bonds. We prove that there are two competing processes inside a doped PHNC – one is the effect of dopant energy levels, and the other is surface passivation by halide ions. Using the most optimal synthesis strategy, we show that although Fe does act as a luminescence quencher in perovskite similar to II–VI quantum dots (QDs), the quenching requires much more Fe compared to trace amounts of Fe required in traditional QDs. Our work will assist in giving an overall comparative idea of doping and finding the most optimized strategy and help identify the underlying physical processes in perovskite based QDs

Effect of structural modification on the quantum-size effect in II-VI semiconducting nanocrystals

Formation also matters: A model to understand the variation in the bandgap with size for nanoclusters is presented. This model shows that the confinement effect and consequent bandgap variation depend not only on shape and size, but also on the structure of the nanocrystal. The electronic structure of group II-VI semiconductors in the stable wurtzite form is analyzed using state-of-the-art ab initio approaches to extract a simple and chemically transparent tight-binding model. This model can be used to understand the variation in the bandgap with size, for nanoclusters of these compounds. Results complement similar information already available for same systems in the zinc blende structure. A comparison with all available experimental data on quantum size effects in group II-VI semiconductor nanoclusters establishes a remarkable agreement between theory and experiment in both structure types, thereby verifying the predictive ability of our approach. The significant dependence of the quantum size effect on the structure type suggests that the experimental bandgap change at a given size compared to the bulk bandgap, may be used to indicate the structural form of the nanoclusters, particularly in the small size limit, where broadening of diffraction features often make it difficult to unambiguously determine the structure

Study of the growth of capped ZnO nanocrystals: a route to rational synthesis

We report the study of complex and unexpected dependencies of nanocrystal size as well as nanocrystal-size distribution on various reaction parameters in the synthesis of ZnO nanocrystals using poly(vinyl pyrollidone) (PVP) as a capping agent. This method establishes a qualitatively different growth mechanism to the anticipated Ostwald ripening behavior. The study of size-distribution kinetics and an understanding of the observed non-monotonic behaviors provides a route to rational synthesis. We used a simple, but accurate, approach to estimate the size-distribution function of nanocrystals from the UV-absorption spectrum. Our results demonstrate the accuracy and generality of this approach, and we also illustrate its application to various semiconducting nanocrystals, such as ZnO, ZnS, and CdSe, over a wide size range (1.8-5.3 nm)