Optical and electronic properties of PbS colloidal nanocrystals

This thesis describes the optical and electrical properties of colloidal PbS nanocrystals synthesized in aqueous solution and comprising different capping ligands and/or matrices. Post-synthesis thermal annealing of thiol-capped PbS colloidal quantum dots (QDs) is discussed and shown to provide a...

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Main Author: Elfurawi, Umaima
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2012
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12542/
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author Elfurawi, Umaima
author_facet Elfurawi, Umaima
author_sort Elfurawi, Umaima
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This thesis describes the optical and electrical properties of colloidal PbS nanocrystals synthesized in aqueous solution and comprising different capping ligands and/or matrices. Post-synthesis thermal annealing of thiol-capped PbS colloidal quantum dots (QDs) is discussed and shown to provide a novel means of tailoring the morphological and electronic properties of the QDs. Two different regimes are reported: at low annealing temperatures (< 80oC), the annealing provides a simple strategy for controlling and narrowing the QD size distribution and photoluminescence emission. At higher annealing temperatures, the displacement of the thiol-ligands promotes the fusion of nearby quantum dots thus leading to interconnected nanocrystals. A study of the circularly polarized magneto- photoluminescence of colloidal PbS nanocrystals under the influence of a magnetic field up to 30T is presented. A semiclassical model for the population of polarized excitons is used to account for the measured magnetic field and temperature dependence of the degree of circular polarization of the QD photoluminescence. The g-factor, gX, of the exciton and its dependence on the QD size is reported for the first time. The value of gX increases from 0.1 to 0.3 at low temperature with decreasing the nanocrystal diameter from 9 to 4 nm. The transport properties of a PbS QDs thin film deposited between two electrodes are investigated. This study reveals a non-linear dependence of the current on the applied bias. At low temperature (T<100 K), the conduction is limited by the charging energy (~20 meV) of the quantum dot. The fabrication of a solid-state device based on porous TiO2 impregnated with PbS QDs is discussed. The photovoltaic response of the device in the visible and near infrared wavelength range is obtained by exploiting the Schottky junction that forms at the interface between the PbS/TiO2 film and a metallic contact.
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spelling nottingham-125422025-02-28T11:19:52Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12542/ Optical and electronic properties of PbS colloidal nanocrystals Elfurawi, Umaima This thesis describes the optical and electrical properties of colloidal PbS nanocrystals synthesized in aqueous solution and comprising different capping ligands and/or matrices. Post-synthesis thermal annealing of thiol-capped PbS colloidal quantum dots (QDs) is discussed and shown to provide a novel means of tailoring the morphological and electronic properties of the QDs. Two different regimes are reported: at low annealing temperatures (< 80oC), the annealing provides a simple strategy for controlling and narrowing the QD size distribution and photoluminescence emission. At higher annealing temperatures, the displacement of the thiol-ligands promotes the fusion of nearby quantum dots thus leading to interconnected nanocrystals. A study of the circularly polarized magneto- photoluminescence of colloidal PbS nanocrystals under the influence of a magnetic field up to 30T is presented. A semiclassical model for the population of polarized excitons is used to account for the measured magnetic field and temperature dependence of the degree of circular polarization of the QD photoluminescence. The g-factor, gX, of the exciton and its dependence on the QD size is reported for the first time. The value of gX increases from 0.1 to 0.3 at low temperature with decreasing the nanocrystal diameter from 9 to 4 nm. The transport properties of a PbS QDs thin film deposited between two electrodes are investigated. This study reveals a non-linear dependence of the current on the applied bias. At low temperature (T<100 K), the conduction is limited by the charging energy (~20 meV) of the quantum dot. The fabrication of a solid-state device based on porous TiO2 impregnated with PbS QDs is discussed. The photovoltaic response of the device in the visible and near infrared wavelength range is obtained by exploiting the Schottky junction that forms at the interface between the PbS/TiO2 film and a metallic contact. 2012-07-11 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12542/1/Thesis.pdf Elfurawi, Umaima (2012) Optical and electronic properties of PbS colloidal nanocrystals. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
spellingShingle Elfurawi, Umaima
Optical and electronic properties of PbS colloidal nanocrystals
title Optical and electronic properties of PbS colloidal nanocrystals
title_full Optical and electronic properties of PbS colloidal nanocrystals
title_fullStr Optical and electronic properties of PbS colloidal nanocrystals
title_full_unstemmed Optical and electronic properties of PbS colloidal nanocrystals
title_short Optical and electronic properties of PbS colloidal nanocrystals
title_sort optical and electronic properties of pbs colloidal nanocrystals
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12542/