Colloidal nanocrystal heterostructures with linear and branched topology

Delia J. Milliron, Steven M. Hughes, Yi Cui, Liberato Manna, Jingbo Li, Lin-Wang Wang and A. Paul Alivisatos ()
Additional contact information
Delia J. Milliron: University of California
Steven M. Hughes: University of California
Yi Cui: University of California
Liberato Manna: University of California
Jingbo Li: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lin-Wang Wang: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
A. Paul Alivisatos: University of California

Nature, 2004, vol. 430, issue 6996, 190-195

Abstract: Abstract The development of colloidal quantum dots has led to practical applications of quantum confinement, such as in solution-processed solar cells1, lasers2 and as biological labels3. Further scientific and technological advances should be achievable if these colloidal quantum systems could be electronically coupled in a general way. For example, this was the case when it became possible to couple solid-state embedded quantum dots into quantum dot molecules4,5. Similarly, the preparation of nanowires with linear alternating compositions—another form of coupled quantum dots—has led to the rapid development of single-nanowire light-emitting diodes6 and single-electron transistors7. Current strategies to connect colloidal quantum dots use organic coupling agents8,9, which suffer from limited control over coupling parameters and over the geometry and complexity of assemblies. Here we demonstrate a general approach for fabricating inorganically coupled colloidal quantum dots and rods, connected epitaxially at branched and linear junctions within single nanocrystals. We achieve control over branching and composition throughout the growth of nanocrystal heterostructures to independently tune the properties of each component and the nature of their interactions. Distinct dots and rods are coupled through potential barriers of tuneable height and width, and arranged in three-dimensional space at well-defined angles and distances. Such control allows investigation of potential applications ranging from quantum information processing to artificial photosynthesis.

Date: 2004
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02695 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:430:y:2004:i:6996:d:10.1038_nature02695

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature02695

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().