Colloidal CdSe/CdS nanostructures : synthesis, optical characterization and applications

Abstract

The focus of this thesis is the study of CdSe/CdS nanostructures, from their fundamental properties to their integration in practical devices. This material system has proven to be remarkably robust both as a platform for studying physics in confined semiconductors, as well as for enabling various optical and optoelectronic applications. In this thesis, we will discuss our recent efforts to improve the synthesis of CdSe/CdS structures, to better understand their optical properties and to use them to create highly performing luminescent solar concentrators. In the first part of the thesis we will discuss our efforts to improve the synthesis of CdSe/CdS nanostructures of different dimensionalities. In particular, we discuss the synthesis of CdSe/CdS quantum dots and seeded CdSe/CdS nanorods that have a near unity photoluminescence quantum yield and complete energy transfer from the shell to the core. Next, we discuss the fabrication of luminescent solar concentrators using these materials and the optical characterization of these devices. Finally, in the last section, we use a combination of synthesis, spectroscopy, and modeling to gain better insight into the photoluminescence lineshape of CdSe/CdS quantum dots.