Issue 14, 2013

Highly efficient and well-resolved Mn2+ ion emission in MnS/ZnS/CdS quantum dots

Abstract

We demonstrate a strategy for the growth of Mn2+ ion doped cadmium based II–VI semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) with a designed buffer layer of ZnS (MnS/ZnS/CdS or Mn:CdS QDs), which aims to meet the challenge of obtaining highly efficient and well-resolved Mn2+ ion emission. First, small, high quality MnS cores are obtained by using thiols to replace conventional alkyl amines as capping ligands. Then a buffer layer of ZnS with a tailored thickness is introduced to the QDs before the growth of CdS shells to reduce the size mismatch between the Mn2+ (dopant) and Cd2+ (host) ions. The fabricated MnS/ZnS/CdS core/shell QDs exhibit a high PL QY of up to 68%, which is the highest ever reported for any type of Mn2+ ion doped cadmium based II–VI semiconductor QD. The photoluminescence (PL) of the QDs consists of well-resolved Mn2+ ion emission without any detectable emission from the CdS band edge or surface defects. In addition, our MnS/ZnS/CdS QDs cannot only be made water-soluble, but can also be coated by ligands with short carbon chain lengths, nearly without cost to the PL QY, which could make them strong candidates for practical applications in biology/biomedicine and opto/electronic devices.

Graphical abstract: Highly efficient and well-resolved Mn2+ ion emission in MnS/ZnS/CdS quantum dots

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Nov 2012
Accepted
18 Feb 2013
First published
19 Feb 2013

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2013,1, 2540-2547

Highly efficient and well-resolved Mn2+ ion emission in MnS/ZnS/CdS quantum dots

S. Cao, J. Zheng, J. Zhao, L. Wang, F. Gao, G. Wei, R. Zeng, L. Tian and W. Yang, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2013, 1, 2540 DOI: 10.1039/C3TC00561E

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