Microstructural, optical and quantum confinement effect study of mechanically synthesized ZnTe quantum dots

ZnTe quantum dots (QD) have been synthesized in a quick single-step process by mechanically alloying a stoichiometric mixture of elemental Zn and Te powders at room temperature under Ar with 1 h of milling. The detailed microstructure of these powdered QD has been characterized by both Rietveld analysis of X-ray powder diffraction data and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results reveal that almost monodispersed spherical QD of similar to 5 nm size were synthesized after 15 h of milling. These QD all belong to the cubic (Zn blende) phase and contain different kinds of stacking faults but with low lattice strain. The UV-vis absorbance spectra of ZnTe QD depict a significant blue shift with decreasing size of QD and the band gap estimated taken from the sharp absorbance peak position is greater than that of the bulk counterpart. The band gap increases with increasing milling time up to 15 h with a continuous decrease in the size of these QD and, therefore, their optical properties can be fine tuned by varying the milling time. (C) 2011 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.