Electroluminescence in Chalcogenide Nanocrystals and Nanocomposites

Abstract

Several research groups have reported that nanocrystalline II-VI semiconductors show enhanced luminescence, increased oscillator strength and shorter response time. Nanocrystalline powder samples of CdS, CdSe, ZnS and ZnSe nanocrystals and their composites with PVA and PVK have been prepared by chemical route. SEM. TEM and AFM images indicate agglomeration of particles. XRD reveal the crystal structure and size in nanometer range and absorption spectra show increased band gap due to quantum confinement.The EL studies on nanocrystalline powder samples and nanocrystal/polymer composites have shown that the light emission starts at certain threshold voltage, different for different specimens and then increases with increasing voltage. It is found that smaller nanocrystals have lower threshold voltage and higher EL brightness. It is observed that nanocomposite give much higher electroluminescence starting at lower voltage and increasing very fast with the voltage as compared to nanocrystalline powder. The emission spectra are found to depend on the material, crystalline size and doping. Electroluminescence in undoped and doped chalcogenide nanocrystals and nanocomposites is reviewed in this paper. In nanosize regime, electroluminescence (EL) is governed by the size quantization effect. Contents of Paper