Light management with quantum nanostructured dots-in-host semiconductors

Insightful knowledge on quantum nanostructured materials is paramount to engineer and exploit their vast gamut of applications. Here, a formalism based on the single-band effective mass equation was developed to determine the light absorption of colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) embedded in a wider bandgap semiconductor host, employing only three parameters (dots/host potential barrier, effective mass, and QD size). It was ascertained how to tune such parameters to design the energy level structure and consequent optical response. Our findings show that the CQD size has the biggest effect on the number and energy of the confined levels, while the potential barrier causes a linear shift of their values. While smaller QDs allow wider energetic separation between levels (as desired for most quantum-based technologies), the larger dots with higher number of levels are those that exhibit the strongest absorption. Nevertheless, it was unprecedently shown that such quantum-enabled absorption coefficients can reach the levels (10(4)-10(5) cm(-1)) of bulk semiconductors.

Automated summary

Insightful knowledge on quantum nanostructured materials is crucial for engineering and utilizing their wide range of applications. Using a formalism based on the single-band effective mass equation, this study determined the light absorption of colloidal quantum dots embedded in wider bandgap semiconductors, finding that the size of the CQDs has the biggest impact on the number and energy of confined levels while the potential barrier causes a linear shift in their values. Additionally, the research showed that the absorption coefficients enabled by quantum effects can reach levels comparable to bulk semiconductors.