Recent Progress of Non-Cadmium and Organic Quantum Dots for Optoelectronic Applications with a Focus on Photodetector Devices

Quantum dots (QDs) are zero-dimensional (0D) nanomaterials with charge confinement in all directions that significantly impact various applications. Metal-free organic quantum dots have fascinating properties such as size-dependent bandgap tunability, good optical absorption coefficient, tunability of absorption and emission wavelength, and low-cost synthesis. Due to the extremely small scale of the materials, these characteristics originated from the quantum confinement of electrons. This review will briefly discuss the use of QDs in solar cells and quantum dots lasers, followed by a more in-depth discussion of QD application in photodetectors. Various types of metallic materials, such as lead sulfide and indium arsenide, as well as nonmetallic materials, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, will be discussed, along with the detection mechanism.

Automated summary

Quantum dots (QDs) are zero-dimensional nanomaterials with charge confinement in all directions, possessing fascinating properties such as size-dependent bandgap tunability, good optical absorption coefficient, tunability of absorption and emission wavelength, and low-cost synthesis. This review briefly discusses the applications of QDs in solar cells and quantum dot lasers, and then delves into their usage in photodetectors. Various metallic materials (e.g. lead sulfide and indium arsenide) and nonmetallic materials (e.g. graphene and carbon nanotubes) are covered, along with their detection mechanisms.