Photogenerated carriers transport behaviors in L-cysteine capped ZnSe core-shell quantum dots

Abstract

The photoexcited carrier transport behavior of zinc selenide (ZnSe) quantum dots (QDs) with core–shell structure is studied because of their unique photoelectronic characteristics. The surface photovoltaic (SPV) properties of self-assembled ZnSe/ZnS/L-Cys core–shell QDs were probed via electric field induced surface photovoltage and transient photovoltage (TPV) measurements supplemented by Fourier transform infrared, laser Raman, absorption, and photoluminescence spectroscopies. The ZnSe QDs displayed p-type SPV characteristics with a broader stronger SPV response over the whole ultraviolet-to-near-infrared range compared with those of other core–shell QDs in the same group. The relationship between the SPV phase value of the QDs and external bias was revealed in their SPV phase spectrum. The wide transient photovoltage response region from 3.3 × 10−8 to 2 × 10−3 s was closely related to the long diffusion distance of photoexcited free charge carriers in the interfacial space–charge region of the QDs. The strong SPV response corresponding to the ZnSe core mainly originated from an obvious quantum tunneling effect in the QDs.