Colloidal Quantum Dots of III-V Semiconductors

Abstract

Quantization effects in semiconductor structures were first demonstrated in the early 1970s in III-V quantum wells; these structures consisted of a thin epitaxial film of a smaller bandgap (Eg) semiconductor (e.g., GaAs, Eg = 1.42 eV) sandwiched between two epitaxial films of a larger bandgap semiconductor (e.g., Al0.3Ga0.7As, Eg = 2.0 eV). The conduction- and valence-band offsets of the two semiconductor materials produce potential barriers for electrons and holes, respectively. The smaller bandgap semiconductor constitutes the quantum-well region and the larger bandgap material the potential barrier region. If the film of the smaller bandgap material is sufficiently thin (thickness less than the de-Broglie wavelength of the charge carriers, which typically requires thicknesses less than about 300 Å for III-V semiconductors), then the charge carriers are confined in one dimension by the potential barriers, and quantization of the energy levels for both electrons and holes can occur (Figure 1).