Luminescence of CdTe nanocrystals

The growth of highly luminescent CdTe nanocrystals synthesized in a mixture of tri-octylphosphine and dodecylamine was investigated. The CdTe nanocrystals grow in time to a constant size which is dependent on the reaction temperature. In the initial stage of the growth particles show a broad defect emission band which is replaced by an efficient excitonic emission after a few minutes of growth. Quantum yields up to 45% were obtained. The life time of the exciton emission increases with quantum yield and reaches a constant value of about 10 ns for the most efficient particles. The life time increase is explained by the reduction of the (fast) non-radiative decay for samples with a higher quantum yield. In CdTe samples aged at room temperature sharp absorption peaks at discrete energies were observed. These were ascribed to small clusters of CdTe which form at room temperature from unreacted precursors. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.