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Many consumer products used daily contain sensors and image sensors (smartphones, cars, automated tools, etc.). There is a growing demand to enhance the capabilities of industrial products to probe their environment more efficiently, i.e., under difficult conditions (smoke, darkness, etc.). One solution is to extend the capabilities of image sensors to detect light toward the near-infrared and short-wave infrared (SWIR) regions. Because silicon has weak absorption properties in the infrared, especially in the SWIR region, manufacturers are investigating the use of new materials to build these sensors. To this end, colloidal quantum dot (QD) thin films made from the assembly of PbS nanoparticles have emerged as promising materials. They offer tunable bandgaps, favorable absorption properties, and scalability in production. However, patterning the active parts of photodiodes by plasma etching of this new material presents challenges. The etching chemistry must be selected to volatilize Pb and S without modifying the unetched active part of the PbS QD photodiode, and the etching profile should be anisotropic. In this study, we have screened several plasma operating conditions (power, pressure, and temperature) in various chemistries (H2, Cl2, HBr, and N2). To understand the etch mechanisms and profiles, ToF-SIMS and TEM/energy dispersive x-ray were employed. Our findings reveal that halogen-based plasmas cause QD material deterioration through Cl or Br diffusion deep in the film. While H2 plasmas are efficient to etch PbS QD films, they result in high roughness due to the removal of the carbonated ligands that separate PbS QDs. This ligand etching is followed by QD coalescence leading to significant roughness. However, the addition of N2 to H2 can prevent this phenomenon by forming a diffusion barrier at the surface, resulting in favorable etching characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chemistry Nobel Prize of this year has been awarded to Alexei Ekimov, Luis Brus, and Moungi Bawendi for their significant contributions to the discovery and synthesis of colloidal quantum dots. What initially started as a strategy to explore the physics of reduced dimensionality in matter has transitioned over the past 40 years into a commercially available technology platform, the largest of which provides red and green color sources for displays. In this overview, we will delve into this transition process and the pivotal roles played by the laureates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study uses a lead chalcogenide (PbSe) nanocrystal (NC) synthesis as a model system to investigate a mechanism of monomer formation in systems based on lead carboxylates and organo-phosphines. Results of [super 31]P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy suggest that two competing mechanisms occur simultaneously to generate monomers in the preparation of PbSe NCs.

Quantum dot photodetectors are a promising platform technology that ST Microelectronics has developed, scaled‐up, and is ready to commercialize. Our quantum dot‐based global shutter imagers are responsive from UV to SWIR wavelengths at high resolution, high efficiency, and low dark currents, with good reliability and very competitive cost. Sampling to customers is now ready to start. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assuming that large color gamut and therefore better color reproducibility will be a highly desired feature of all displays as we look to the near future, we make the case in this paper that quantum dots (QDs) are currently the down-conversion technology of choice that will allow liquid crystal display makers to cost-effectively reach and exceed 100% of the NTSC (National Television Standard Committee) and Adobe RGB color standards while achieving maximum system efficiency. We will discuss in detail the numerous fundamental advantages of QDs over phosphors, along with their scientific origins, andmake the case that QDs are the ultimate light generating material for next-generation displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thin film of quantum dots (QD) was used to visualize the local photo-response of polycrystalline CdTe solar cells by down-converting an electron beam of high energy to photons of visible light. The efficient photon generation in the QD film is compared to cathodoluminescence of the high-purity bulk semiconductors and phosphor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cathodoluminescent imaging of the visible light emitted from quantum dots is reported. The shape and uniformity of individual particles is observed in the STEM electron image and the image of the particles created from their visible light collected simultaneously is shown. Visible light images of the 12-13nm sized particles are reported for clusters of just 2 particles. Emission spectra collected from small clusters of around 50 nano-particles are also reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assuming large color gamut and therefore better color reproducibility will be a highly desired feature of all displays as we look to the near future, we make the case in this paper that Quantum Dots (QDs) are currently the down-conversion technology of choice that will allow liquid crystal display (LCD) makers to cost-effectively reach and exceed 100% of the NTSC (National Television Standard Committee) standard while achieving maximum system efficiency. We will discuss in detail the numerous fundamental advantages of QDs over phosphors, along with their scientific origins, and make the case that QDs are the ultimate light generating material for next-generation displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colloidal quantum dots exhibit efficient photoluminescence with widely tunable bandgaps as a result of quantum confinement effects. Such quantum dots are emerging as an appealing complement to epitaxial semiconductor laser materials, which are ubiquitous and technologically mature, but unable to cover the full visible spectrum (red, green and blue; RGB). However, the requirement for high colloidal-quantum-dot packing density, and losses due to non-radiative multiexcitonic Auger recombination, have hindered the development of lasers based on colloidal quantum dots. Here, we engineer CdSe/ZnCdS core/shell colloidal quantum dots with aromatic ligands, which form densely packed films exhibiting optical gain across the visible spectrum with less than one exciton per colloidal quantum dot on average. This single-exciton gain allows the films to reach the threshold of amplified spontaneous emission at very low optical pump energy densities of 90 µJ cm-2, more than one order of magnitude better than previously reported values. We leverage the low-threshold gain of these nanocomposite films to produce the first colloidal-quantum-dot vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (CQD-VCSEL). Our results represent a significant step towards full-colour single-material lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum dots (QDs) are a luminescent semiconductor nanomaterial technology that delivers exceptional color for liquid crystal display backlighting unit (LCD-BLU) applications. We report on the scale-up of the rapid-injection, batch synthetic method, and compare it to other proposed manufacturing methods. A discussion of how to meet high volume QD production needs follows, consistent with current and future LCD volumes, and taking into account dominant implementation geometries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate tunable room-temperature amplified spontaneous emission and lasing from blue-emitting core-shell CdS/ZnS nanocrystals (NCs) stabilized in a sol-gel derived silica matrix. Variable stripe length measurements show that these NC-silica composites have a modal gain of ∼100 cm-1 at room temperature. Coating microspheres with a NC-silica composite film via a facile process resulted in uniform resonators that exhibit room-temperature lasing over long periods of continuous excitation. This work opens up a spectral window for emission tunable, microscale NC-based lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the fabrication of polymer waveguides containing infrared-emitting nanocrystal quantum dots. Both PbSe and InAs nanocrystal quantum dots are incorporated into a fluorinated polymer by a surface functionalization method. The optical properties of the nanocrystal quantum dots are shown to be unaffected by the entire fabrication process. This method may provide a versatile platform for integration of nanocrystal quantum dots into planar photonic circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate surface emitting distributed feedback (DFB) lasers across the red, green, and blue from densely packed colloidal quantum dot (CQD) films. The solid CQD films were deposited on periodic grating patterns to enable 2nd-order DFB lasing action at mere 120, 280, and 330 μJ/cm2 of optical pumping energy densities for red, green, and blue DFB lasers, respectively. The lasers operated in single mode operation with less than 1 nm of full-width-half-maximum. We measured far-field patterns showing high degree of spatial beam coherence. Specifically, by taking advantage of single exciton optical gain regime from our engineered CQDs, we can significantly suppress the Auger recombination to reduce lasing threshold and achieve quasi-steady state, optically pumped operation.

We demonstrate a solvent-free contact printing process for deposition of patterned and unpatterned colloidal quantum dot (QD) thin films as the electroluminescent layers within hybrid organic-QD light-emitting devices (QD-LEDs). Our method benefits from the simplicity, low cost, and high throughput of solution-processing methods, while eliminating exposure of device structures to solvents. Because the charge transport layers in hybrid organic/inorganic QD-LEDs consist of solvent-sensitive organic thin films, the ability to avoid solvent exposure during device growth, as presented in this study, provides a new flexibility in choosing organic materials for improved device performance. In addition, our method allows us to fabricate both monochrome and red-green-blue patterned electroluminescent structures with 25 microm critical dimension, corresponding to 1000 ppi (pixels-per-inch) print resolution.