Investigating Postsynthetic Treatment and Ligand Exchange to Strengthen Optical Performance of Near Infrared Emissive InAs/InP/ZnSe Quantum Dots
Trang Mai Le
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Faculty Supervisor: Michael Enright
Colloidal indium arsenide quantum dots (InAs QDs) have near-infrared optical properties that enable potential applications in building integrated photovoltaic systems. By taking advantage of their strong visible light absorption and near-infrared emission, we can envision using InAs QDs to absorb sunlight before reemitting it at energies optimal for solar cell performance. Besides synthetic modifications, postsynthetic treatment is crucial in ensuring their physical, chemical and optical properties for practical applications. Not many improvements have been done for InAs/InP/ZnSe system, and challenges remain with surface defects and ligand exchange stability. This research explores different postsynthetic treatments to reduce defects and enhance ligand stability of the near infrared emissive InAs quantum dots.