Semiconductor nanocrystals have been the focus of much attention in the last ten years due predominantly to their size dependent optical properties. Namely, the band gap of nanocrystals exhibits a shift to higher energy with decreasing size due to quantum confinement effects. Research in this field has employed primarily optical techniques to study nanocrystals, and in this respect this system has been investigated extensively. In addition, one is able to synthesize monodisperse, crystalline particles of CdS, CdSe, Si, InP, InAs, as well as CdS/HgS/CdS and CdSe/CdS composites. However, optical spectroscopies have proven ambiguous in determining the degree to which electronic excitations are interior or surface admixtures or giving a complete picture of the density of states. Photoemission is a useful technique for understanding the electronic structure of nanocrystals and the effects of quantum confinement, chemical environments of the nanocrystals, and surface coverages. Of particular interest to the authors is the surface composition and structure of these particles, for they have found that much of the behavior of nanocrystals is governed by their surface. Previously, the authors had performed x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) on CdSe nanocrystals. XPS has proven to be a powerful tool in that it allows one to determine the composition of the nanocrystal surface.
Nanostructured light trapping has emerged as a promising route toward improved efficiency in solar cells. We use coupled optical and electrical modeling to guide optimization of such nanostructures. We study thin-film n-i-p a-Si:H devices and demonstrate that nanostructures can be tailored to minimize absorption in the doped a-Si:H, improving carrier collection efficiency. This suggests a method for device optimization in which optical design not only maximizes absorption, but also ensures resulting carriers are efficiently collected.
The resonance Raman spectrum of 45(+−3) Å diameter CdSe clusters was measured. The incident photons were resonant with the HOMO–LUMO transition in the clusters. At low temperature, one mode at 205 cm−1 is observed, as well as two overtones, with the integrated areas under these peaks in the ratio of 9:3:1. This mode is assigned as the longest wavelength longitudinal optical vibration of the cluster. The strength of the coupling between the lowest electronic excited state and the LO vibration is found to be 20 times weaker in these clusters than in the bulk solid. The CdSe cluster resonance Raman spectrum is shown to be consistent with the recently measured homogeneous cluster absorption spectrum.
Nanometer-scale crystals of III-V semiconductors are disclosed, They are prepared by reacting a group III metal source with a group V anion source in a liquid phase at elevated temperature in the presence of a crystallite growth terminator such as pyridine or quinoline.
ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEEditorialNEXTNanothermodynamics: A Personal Perspective by Terrell HillPaul AlivisatosView Author Information EditorCite this: Nano Letters 2001, 1, 3, 109Publication Date (Web):February 17, 2001Publication History Published online17 February 2001Published inissue 1 March 2001https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/nl010012yhttps://doi.org/10.1021/nl010012yeditorialACS PublicationsCopyright © 2001 American Chemical Society. This publication is available under these Terms of Use. Request reuse permissions This publication is free to access through this site. Learn MoreArticle Views1263Altmetric-Citations5LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail PDF (7 KB) Get e-AlertscloseSUBJECTS:Nanoscale,Nanoscience,Thermodynamics Get e-Alerts
Shaped nanocrystal particles and methods for making shaped nanocrystal particles are disclosed. One embodiment includes a method for forming a branched, nanocrystal particle. It includes (a) forming a core having a first crystal structure in a solution, (b) forming a first arm extending from the core having a second crystal structure in the solution, and (c) forming a second arm extending from the core having the second crystal structure in the solution.
Discrete DNA−gold nanoparticle conjugates with DNA lengths as short as 15 bases for both 5 and 20 nm gold particles have been purified by anion-exchange HPLC. Conjugates comprising short DNA (<40 bases) and large gold particles (≥20 nm) are difficult to purify by other means and are potential substrates for plasmon coupling experiments. Conjugate purity is demonstrated by hybridizing complementary conjugates to form discrete structures, which are visualized by TEM.
Three different size distributions of Ge quantum dots (≳200, 110, and 60 Å) have been synthesized via the ultrasonic mediated reduction of mixtures of chlorogermanes and organochlorogermanes (or organochlorosilanes) by a colloidal sodium/potassium alloy in heptane, followed by annealing in a sealed pressure vessel at 270 °C. The quantum dots are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, x-ray powder diffraction, x-ray photoemission, infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Colloidal suspensions of these quantum dots were prepared and their extinction spectra are measured with ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) and near infrared (IR) spectroscopy, in the regime from 0.6 to 5 eV. The optical spectra are correlated with a Mie theory extinction calculation utilizing bulk optical constants. This leads to an assignment of three optical features to the E(1), E(0′), and E(2) direct band gap transitions. The E(0′) transitions exhibit a strong size dependence. The near IR spectra of the largest dots is dominated by E(0) direct gap absorptions. For the smallest dots the near IR spectrum is dominated by the Γ25→L indirect transitions.
Although the vast majority of hydrocarbon fuels and products are presently derived from petroleum, there is much interest in the development of routes for synthesizing these same products by hydrogenating CO2. The simplest hydrocarbon target is methane, which can utilize existing infrastructure for natural gas storage, distribution, and consumption. Electrochemical methods for methanizing CO2 currently suffer from a combination of low activities and poor selectivities. We demonstrate that copper nanoparticles supported on glassy carbon (n-Cu/C) achieve up to 4 times greater methanation current densities compared to high-purity copper foil electrodes. The n-Cu/C electrocatalyst also exhibits an average Faradaic efficiency for methanation of 80% during extended electrolysis, the highest Faradaic efficiency for room-temperature methanation reported to date. We find that the level of copper catalyst loading on the glassy carbon support has an enormous impact on the morphology of the copper under catalytic conditions and the resulting Faradaic efficiency for methane. The improved activity and Faradaic efficiency for methanation involves a mechanism that is distinct from what is generally thought to occur on copper foils. Electrochemical data indicate that the early steps of methanation on n-Cu/C involve a pre-equilibrium one-electron transfer to CO2 to form an adsorbed radical, followed by a rate-limiting non-electrochemical step in which the adsorbed CO2 radical reacts with a second CO2 molecule from solution. These nanoscale copper electrocatalysts represent a first step toward the preparation of practical methanation catalysts that can be incorporated into membrane-electrode assemblies in electrolyzers.
