(Invited, Digital Presentation) Exploring New Applications of Luminescent Silicon Nanocrystals

Abstract

The luminescence of silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs) has been traditionally studied for various applications such as light-emitting diodes, solar cells and bioimaging[1]. In the past few years we have started exploring the use of Si NCs for emerging optoelectronic synaptic devices[2,3]. As an important type of optoelectronic synaptic devices, electroluminescent synaptic devices have been fabricated by using Si NCs[4,5]. Under the stimulation of electrical spikes these devices give out electroluminescence that decays in the timeframe of tens of microseconds, enabling a series of synaptic functionalities and logic functions. In addition, we have synthesized Er-hyperdoped Si NCs, which emit light simultaneously at the wavelengths of 830 and 1540 nm. It is found that Er-hyperdoped Si NCs are a powerful ratiometric near-infrared fluorescent platform. The rationmetric near-infrared fluorescence may be well used for temperature sensing, which further enables the construction of logic gates[6].[1] Z. Y. Ni, et al., Materials Science & Engineering R 138, 85-117 (2019).[2] L. Yin, et al., Nano Letters 20, 5, 3378–3387 (2020).[3] Y. Wang, et al., Advanced Functional Materials 2107973 (2021).[4] S. Y. Zhao, et al., Nano Energy 54, 383-389 (2018)[5] S. Y. Zhao, et al., Science China Materials 62, 1470-1478 (2019)[6] K. Wang, et al., to be submitted.