WorldWideScience

Sample records for nanoparticles quantum dot

  1. Quantum dot nanoparticle conjugation, characterization, and applications in neuroscience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pathak, Smita

    Quantum dot are semiconducting nanoparticles that have been used for decades in a variety of applications such as solar cells, LEDs and medical imaging. Their use in the last area, however, has been extremely limited despite their potential as revolutionary new biological labeling tools. Quantum dots are much brighter and more stable than conventional fluorophores, making them optimal for high resolution imaging and long term studies. Prior work in this area involves synthesizing and chemically conjugating quantum dots to molecules of interest in-house. However this method is both time consuming and prone to human error. Additionally, non-specific binding and nanoparticle aggregation currently prevent researchers from utilizing this system to its fullest capacity. Another critical issue that has not been addressed is determining the number of ligands bound to nanoparticles, which is crucial for proper interpretation of results. In this work, methods to label fixed cells using two types of chemically modified quantum dots are studied. Reproducible non-specific artifact labeling is consistently demonstrated if antibody-quantum dot conditions are less than optimal. In order to explain this, antibodies bound to quantum dots were characterized and quantified. While other groups have qualitatively characterized antibody functionalized quantum dots using TEM, AFM, UV spectroscopy and gel electrophoresis, and in some cases have reported calculated estimates of the putative number of total antibodies bound to quantum dots, no quantitative experimental results had been reported prior to this work. The chemical functionalization and characterization of quantum dot nanocrystals achieved in this work elucidates binding mechanisms of ligands to nanoparticles and allows researchers to not only translate our tools to studies in their own areas of interest but also derive quantitative results from these studies. This research brings ease of use and increased reliability to

  2. Array of nanoparticles coupling with quantum-dot: Lattice plasmon quantum features

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salmanogli, Ahmad; Gecim, H. Selcuk

    2018-06-01

    In this study, we analyze the interaction of lattice plasmon with quantum-dot in order to mainly examine the quantum features of the lattice plasmon containing the photonic/plasmonic properties. Despite optical properties of the localized plasmon, the lattice plasmon severely depends on the array geometry, which may influence its quantum features such as uncertainty and the second-order correlation function. To investigate this interaction, we consider a closed system containing an array of the plasmonic nanoparticles and quantum-dot. We analyze this system with full quantum theory by which the array electric far field is quantized and the strength coupling of the quantum-dot array is analytically calculated. Moreover, the system's dynamics are evaluated and studied via the Heisenberg-Langevin equations to attain the system optical modes. We also analytically examine the Purcell factor, which shows the effect of the lattice plasmon on the quantum-dot spontaneous emission. Finally, the lattice plasmon uncertainty and its time evolution of the second-order correlation function at different spatial points are examined. These parameters are dramatically affected by the retarded field effect of the array nanoparticles. We found a severe quantum fluctuation at points where the lattice plasmon occurs, suggesting that the lattice plasmon photons are correlated.

  3. Enhanced intratumoral uptake of quantum dots concealed within hydrogel nanoparticles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nair, Ashwin; Shen Jinhui; Thevenot, Paul; Zou Ling; Tang Liping; Cai Tong; Hu Zhibing

    2008-01-01

    Effective nanomedical devices for tumor imaging and drug delivery are not yet available. In an attempt to construct a more functional device for tumor imaging, we have embedded quantum dots (which have poor circulatory behavior) within hydrogel nanoparticles made of poly-N-isopropylacrylamide. We found that the hydrogel encapsulated quantum dots are more readily taken up by cultured tumor cells. Furthermore, in a melanoma model, hydrogel encapsulated quantum dots also preferentially accumulate in the tumor tissue compared with normal tissue and have ∼16-fold greater intratumoral uptake compared to non-derivatized quantum dots. Our results suggest that these derivatized quantum dots, which have greatly improved tumor localization, may enhance cancer monitoring and chemotherapy.

  4. Cadmium-containing nanoparticles: Perspectives on pharmacology and toxicology of quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rzigalinski, Beverly A.; Strobl, Jeannine S.

    2009-01-01

    The field of nanotechnology is rapidly expanding with the development of novel nanopharmaceuticals that have potential for revolutionizing medical treatment. The rapid pace of expansion in this field has exceeded the pace of pharmacological and toxicological research on the effects of nanoparticles in the biological environment. The development of cadmium-containing nanoparticles, known as quantum dots, show great promise for treatment and diagnosis of cancer and targeted drug delivery, due to their size-tunable fluorescence and ease of functionalization for tissue targeting. However, information on pharmacology and toxicology of quantum dots needs much further development, making it difficult to assess the risks associated with this new nanotechnology. Further, nanotechnology poses yet another risk for toxic cadmium, which will now enter the biological realm in nano-form. In this review, we discuss cadmium-containing quantum dots and their physicochemical properties at the nano-scale. We summarize the existing work on pharmacology and toxicology of cadmium-containing quantum dots and discuss perspectives in their utility in disease treatment. Finally, we identify critical gaps in our knowledge of cadmium quantum dot toxicity, and how these gaps need to be assessed to enable quantum dot nanotechnology to transit safely from bench to bedside.

  5. Optical response of a quantum dot-metal nanoparticle hybrid interacting with a weak probe field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosionis, Spyridon G; Terzis, Andreas F; Sadeghi, Seyed M; Paspalakis, Emmanuel

    2013-01-30

    We study optical effects in a hybrid system composed of a semiconductor quantum dot and a spherical metal nanoparticle that interacts with a weak probe electromagnetic field. We use modified nonlinear density matrix equations for the description of the optical properties of the system and obtain a closed-form expression for the linear susceptibilities of the quantum dot, the metal nanoparticle, and the total system. We then investigate the dependence of the susceptibility on the interparticle distance as well as on the material parameters of the hybrid system. We find that the susceptibility of the quantum dot exhibits optical transparency for specific frequencies. In addition, we show that there is a range of frequencies of the applied field for which the susceptibility of the semiconductor quantum dot leads to gain. This suggests that in such a hybrid system quantum coherence can reverse the course of energy transfer, allowing flow of energy from the metallic nanoparticle to the quantum dot. We also explore the susceptibility of the metal nanoparticle and show that it is strongly influenced by the presence of the quantum dot.

  6. Ultrafast spontaneous emission modulation of graphene quantum dots interacting with Ag nanoparticles in solution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhao, Jianwei [Department of Physics, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Research Center of Quantum Macro-Phenomenon and Application, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210 (China); Lu, Jian, E-mail: luj@sari.ac.cn; Wang, Zhongyang, E-mail: wangzy@sari.ac.cn [Research Center of Quantum Macro-Phenomenon and Application, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210 (China); Wang, Liang [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Tian, Linfan [Research Center of Quantum Macro-Phenomenon and Application, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210 (China); School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210 (China); Deng, Xingxia [Research Center of Quantum Macro-Phenomenon and Application, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210 (China); School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Tian, Lijun [Department of Physics, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China); Pan, Dengyu [School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444 (China)

    2016-07-11

    We investigated the strong interaction between graphene quantum dots and silver nanoparticles in solution using time-resolved photoluminescence techniques. In solution, the silver nanoparticles are surrounded by graphene quantum dots and interacted with graphene quantum dots through exciton-plasmon coupling. An ultrafast spontaneous emission process (lifetime 27 ps) was observed in such a mixed solution. This ultrafast lifetime corresponds to the emission rate exceeding 35 GHz, with the purcell enhancement by a factor of ∼12. These experiment results pave the way for the realization of future high speed light sources applications.

  7. Liposome encapsulation of fluorescent nanoparticles: Quantum dots and silica nanoparticles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, C.-S.; Yao Jie; Durst, Richard A.

    2006-01-01

    Quantum dots (QDs) and silica nanoparticles (SNs) are relatively new classes of fluorescent probes that overcome the limitations encountered by organic fluorophores in bioassay and biological imaging applications. We encapsulated QDs and SNs in liposomes and separated nanoparticle-loaded liposomes from unencapsulated nanoparticles by size exclusion chromatography. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy was used to measure the average number of nanoparticles inside each liposome. Results indicated that nanoparticle-loaded liposomes were formed and separated from unencapsulated nanoparticles by using a Sepharose gel. As expected, fluorescence self-quenching of nanoparticles inside liposomes was not observed. Each liposome encapsulated an average of three QDs. These studies demonstrated that nanoparticles could be successfully encapsulated into liposomes and provided a methodology to quantify the number of nanoparticles inside each liposome by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

  8. Nanogel-quantum dot hybrid nanoparticles for live cell imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hasegawa, Urara; Nomura, Shin-ichiro M.; Kaul, Sunil C.; Hirano, Takashi; Akiyoshi, Kazunari

    2005-01-01

    We report here a novel carrier of quantum dots (QDs) for intracellular labeling. Monodisperse hybrid nanoparticles (38 nm in diameter) of QDs were prepared by simple mixing with nanogels of cholesterol-bearing pullulan (CHP) modified with amino groups (CHPNH 2 ). The CHPNH 2 -QD nanoparticles were effectively internalized into the various human cells examined. The efficiency of cellular uptake was much higher than that of a conventional carrier, cationic liposome. These hybrid nanoparticles could be a promising fluorescent probe for bioimaging

  9. Coherently-enabled environmental control of optics and energy transfer pathways of hybrid quantum dot-metallic nanoparticle systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatef, Ali; Sadeghi, Seyed M; Fortin-Deschênes, Simon; Boulais, Etienne; Meunier, Michel

    2013-03-11

    It is well-known that optical properties of semiconductor quantum dots can be controlled using optical cavities or near fields of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) of metallic nanoparticles. In this paper we study the optics, energy transfer pathways, and exciton states of quantum dots when they are influenced by the near fields associated with plasmonic meta-resonances. Such resonances are formed via coherent coupling of excitons and LSPRs when the quantum dots are close to metallic nanorods and driven by a laser beam. Our results suggest an unprecedented sensitivity to the refractive index of the environment, causing significant spectral changes in the Förster resonance energy transfer from the quantum dots to the nanorods and in exciton transition energies. We demonstrate that when a quantum dot-metallic nanorod system is close to its plasmonic meta-resonance, we can adjust the refractive index to: (i) control the frequency range where the energy transfer from the quantum dot to the metallic nanorod is inhibited, (ii) manipulate the exciton transition energy shift of the quantum dot, and (iii) disengage the quantum dot from the metallic nanoparticle and laser field. Our results show that near meta-resonances the spectral forms of energy transfer and exciton energy shifts are strongly correlated to each other.

  10. Dual-excitation upconverting nanoparticle and quantum dot aptasensor for multiplexed food pathogen detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurt, Hasan; Yüce, Meral; Hussain, Babar; Budak, Hikmet

    2016-07-15

    In this report, a dual-excitation sensing method was developed using aptamer-functionalized quantum dots and upconverting nanoparticles, exhibiting Stokes and anti-Stokes type excitation profiles, respectively. Conjugation of the aptamer-functionalized luminescent nanoparticles with the magnetic beads, comprising short DNA sequences that were partially complementary to the aptamer sequences, enabled facile separation of the analyte-free conjugates for fluorescent measurement. UV-Visible spectroscopy, Circular Dichroism spectroscopy, Dynamic Light Scattering and Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis techniques were used to characterize the aptamer probes developed. The target-specific luminescent conjugates were applied for multiplex detection of model food pathogens, Salmonella typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus, in which the fluorescent emission spectra were obtained under UV excitation at 325nm for quantum dots and NIR excitation at 980nm for upconverting nanoparticles, respectively. The dual-excitation strategy was aimed to minimize cross-talk between the luminescent signals for multiplexed detection, and yielded limit of detection values of 16 and 28cfumL(-1) for Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhimurium, respectively. By employing a greater number of quantum dots and upconverting nanoparticles with non-overlapping fluorescent emissions, the proposed methodology might be exploited further to detect several analytes, simultaneously. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Controllable synthesis, growth mechanism and optical properties of the ZnSe quantum dots and nanoparticles with different crystalline phases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feng, Bo [Key Laboratory of Excited State Physics, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 3888 Eastern Nan-Hu Road, Changchun 130033 (China); Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Institute of Condensed State Physics, Jilin Normal University, Siping 136000 (China); Yang, Jinghai, E-mail: jhyang1@jlnu.edu.cn [Institute of Condensed State Physics, Jilin Normal University, Siping 136000 (China); Cao, Jian; Yang, Lili; Gao, Ming; Wei, Maobin; Liu, Yang [Institute of Condensed State Physics, Jilin Normal University, Siping 136000 (China); Song, Hang [Key Laboratory of Excited State Physics, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 3888 Eastern Nan-Hu Road, Changchun 130033 (China)

    2013-03-15

    Graphical abstract: The ZnSe quantum dots (3.5 nm) with the wurtzite structure exhibited a strong near band-edge emission (NBE) peak centered at 422 nm. The zinc blende ZnSe nanoparticles (21 nm) exhibited near-band-edge luminescence peak centered at 472 nm. Highlights: ► The results of TEM showed that the ZnSe quantum dots were about 3.5 nm. ► The ZnSe quantum dots exhibited a near band-edge emission peak centered at 422 nm. ► The ZnSe nanoparticles exhibited near-band-edge luminescence peak centered at 472 nm. - Abstract: ZnSe precursors were prepared by a solvothermal method at 180 °C without any surface-active agents. ZnSe quantum dots and nanoparticles were obtained by annealing the precursors at 300 °C for 2 h in argon atmosphere. The ZnSe quantum dots were about 3.5 nm, while the ZnSe nanoparticles were about 21 nm, as observed using TEM. The growth mechanisms for the two samples were discussed; this proved that the high coordination ability of ethylenediamine to zinc played an important role in the final phase of the products. The ZnSe quantum dots with the wurtzite structure exhibited a strong near band-edge emission (NBE) peak centered at 422 nm, which was blue-shifted in comparison to that of the bulk ZnSe, which was mainly caused by the quantum confinement effect. However, the zinc blende ZnSe nanoparticles exhibited a near-band-edge luminescence peak centered at 472 nm.

  12. Single quantum dot tracking reveals the impact of nanoparticle surface on intracellular state.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zahid, Mohammad U; Ma, Liang; Lim, Sung Jun; Smith, Andrew M

    2018-05-08

    Inefficient delivery of macromolecules and nanoparticles to intracellular targets is a major bottleneck in drug delivery, genetic engineering, and molecular imaging. Here we apply live-cell single-quantum-dot imaging and tracking to analyze and classify nanoparticle states after intracellular delivery. By merging trajectory diffusion parameters with brightness measurements, multidimensional analysis reveals distinct and heterogeneous populations that are indistinguishable using single parameters alone. We derive new quantitative metrics of particle loading, cluster distribution, and vesicular release in single cells, and evaluate intracellular nanoparticles with diverse surfaces following osmotic delivery. Surface properties have a major impact on cell uptake, but little impact on the absolute cytoplasmic numbers. A key outcome is that stable zwitterionic surfaces yield uniform cytosolic behavior, ideal for imaging agents. We anticipate that this combination of quantum dots and single-particle tracking can be widely applied to design and optimize next-generation imaging probes, nanoparticle therapeutics, and biologics.

  13. Using of Quantum Dots in Biology and Medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pleskova, Svetlana; Mikheeva, Elza; Gornostaeva, Ekaterina

    2018-01-01

    Quantum dots are nanoparticles, which due to their unique physical and chemical (first of all optical) properties, are promising in biology and medicine. There are many ways for quantum dots synthesis, both in the form of nanoislands self-forming on the surfaces, which can be used as single-photon emitters in electronics for storing information, and in the form of colloidal quantum dots for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in living systems. The paper describes the main methods of quantum dots synthesis and summarizes medical and biological ways of their use. The main emphasis is laid on the ways of quantum dots surface modification. Influence of the size and form of nanoparticles, charge on the surfaces of quantum dots, and cover type on the efficiency of internalization by cells and cell compartments is shown. The main mechanisms of penetration are considered.

  14. Quantum dot-decorated semiconductor micro- and nanoparticles: A review of their synthesis, characterization and application in photocatalysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bajorowicz, Beata; Kobylański, Marek P; Gołąbiewska, Anna; Nadolna, Joanna; Zaleska-Medynska, Adriana; Malankowska, Anna

    2018-06-01

    Quantum dot (QD)-decorated semiconductor micro- and nanoparticles are a new class of functional nanomaterials that have attracted considerable interest for their unique structural, optical and electronic properties that result from the large surface-to-volume ratio and the quantum confinement effect. In addition, because of QDs' excellent light-harvesting capacity, unique photoinduced electron transfer, and up-conversion behaviour, semiconductor nanoparticles decorated with quantum dots have been used widely in photocatalytic applications for the degradation of organic pollutants in both the gas and aqueous phases. This review is a comprehensive overview of the recent progress in synthesis methods for quantum dots and quantum dot-decorated semiconductor composites with an emphasis on their composition, morphology and optical behaviour. Furthermore, various approaches used for the preparation of QD-based composites are discussed in detail with respect to visible and UV light-induced photoactivity. Finally, an outlook on future development is proposed with the goal of overcoming challenges and stimulating further research into this promising field. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Hyperbolic metamaterials based on quantum-dot plasmon-resonator nanocomposites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhukovsky, Sergei; Ozel, T.; Mutlugun, E.

    2014-01-01

    We theoretically demonstrate that nanocomposites made of colloidal semiconductor quantum dot monolayers placed between metal nanoparticle monolayers can function as multilayer hyperbolic metamaterials. Depending on the thickness of the spacer between the quantum dot and nanoparticle layers......, the effective permittivity tensor of the nanocomposite is shown to become indefinite, resulting in increased photonic density of states and strong enhancement of quantum dot luminescence. This explains the results of recent experiments [T. Ozel et al., ACS Nano 5, 1328 (2011)] and confirms that hyperbolic...

  16. Optical properties of quantum-dot-doped liquid scintillators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aberle, C; Winslow, L; Li, J J; Weiss, S

    2013-01-01

    Semiconductor nanoparticles (quantum dots) were studied in the context of liquid scintillator development for upcoming neutrino experiments. The unique optical and chemical properties of quantum dots are particularly promising for the use in neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments. Liquid scintillators for large scale neutrino detectors have to meet specific requirements which are reviewed, highlighting the peculiarities of quantum-dot-doping. In this paper, we report results on laboratory-scale measurements of the attenuation length and the fluorescence properties of three commercial quantum dot samples. The results include absorbance and emission stability measurements, improvement in transparency due to filtering of the quantum dot samples, precipitation tests to isolate the quantum dots from solution and energy transfer studies with quantum dots and the fluorophore PPO

  17. Dual-excitation upconverting nanoparticle and quantum dot aptasensor for multiplexed food pathogen detection

    OpenAIRE

    Kurt, Hasan; Yüce, Meral; Yuce, Meral; Hussain, Babar; Budak, Hikmet

    2016-01-01

    In this report, a dual-excitation sensing method was developed using aptamer-functionalized quantum dots and upconverting nanoparticles, exhibiting Stokes and anti-Stokes type excitation profiles, respectively. Conjugation of the aptamer-functionalized luminescent nanoparticles with the magnetic beads, comprising short DNA sequences that were partially complementary to the aptamer sequences, enabled facile separation of the analyte-free conjugates for fluorescent measurement. UV–Visible spect...

  18. "Cloud" assemblies: quantum dots form electrostatically bound dynamic nebulae around large gold nanoparticles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lilly, G Daniel; Lee, Jaebeom; Kotov, Nicholas A

    2010-10-14

    Dynamic self-assembled structures of nanoparticles can be produced using predominantly electrostatic interactions. Such assemblies were made from large, positively charged Au metal nanoparticles surrounded by an electrostatically bound cloud of smaller, negatively charged CdSe/ZnS or CdTe quantum dots. At low concentrations they are topologically similar to double electric layers of ions and corona-like assemblies linked by polymer chains. They can also be compared to the topological arrangement of some planetary systems in space. The great advantages of the cloud assemblies are (1) their highly dynamic nature compared to more rigid covalently bound assemblies, (2) simplicity of preparation, and (3) exceptional versatility in components and resulting optical properties. Photoluminescence intensity enhancement originating from quantum resonance between excitons and plasmons was observed for CdSe/ZnS quantum dots, although CdTe dots displayed emission quenching. To evaluate more attentively their dynamic behavior, emission data were collected for the cloud-assemblies with different ratios of the components and ionic strengths of the media. The emission of the system passes through a maximum for 80 QDs ∶ 1 Au NP as determined by the structure of the assemblies and light absorption conditions. Ionic strength dependence of luminescence intensity contradicts the predictions based on the Gouy-Chapman theory and osmotic pressure at high ionic strengths due to formation of larger chaotic colloidally stable assemblies. "Cloud" assemblies made from different nanoscale components can be used both for elucidation of most fundamental aspects of nanoparticle interactions, as well as for practical purposes in sensing and biology.

  19. Quantum Dot/Liquid Crystal Nanocomposites in Photonic Devices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea L. Rodarte

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Quantum dot/liquid crystal nano-composites are promising new materials for a variety of applications in energy harvesting, displays and photonics including the liquid crystal laser. To realize many applications, however, we need to control and stabilize nano-particle dispersion in different liquid crystal host phases and understand how the particles behave in an anisotropic fluid. An ideal system will allow for the controlled assembly of either well-defined nano-particle clusters or a uniform particle distribution. In this paper, we investigate mesogen-functionalized quantum dots for dispersion in cholesteric liquid crystal. These nanoparticles are known to assemble into dense stable packings in the nematic phase, and such structures, when localized in the liquid crystal defects, can potentially enhance the coupling between particles and a cholesteric cavity. Controlling the dispersion and assembly of quantum dots using mesogenic surface ligands, we demonstrate how resonant fluid photonic cavities can result from the co-assembly of luminescent nanoparticles in the presence of cholesteric liquid crystalline ordering.

  20. Coherent confinement of plasmonic field in quantum dot-metallic nanoparticle molecules.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadeghi, S M; Hatef, A; Fortin-Deschenes, Simon; Meunier, Michel

    2013-05-24

    Interaction of a hybrid system consisting of a semiconductor quantum dot and a metallic nanoparticle (MNP) with a laser beam can replace the intrinsic plasmonic field of the MNP with a coherently normalized field (coherent-plasmonic or CP field). In this paper we show how quantum coherence effects in such a hybrid system can form a coherent barrier (quantum cage) that spatially confines the CP field. This allows us to coherently control the modal volume of this field, making it significantly smaller or larger than that of the intrinsic plasmonic field of the MNP. We investigate the spatial profiles of the CP field and discuss how the field barrier depends on the collective states of the hybrid system.

  1. Quantum Dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tartakovskii, Alexander

    2012-07-01

    Part I. Nanostructure Design and Structural Properties of Epitaxially Grown Quantum Dots and Nanowires: 1. Growth of III/V semiconductor quantum dots C. Schneider, S. Hofling and A. Forchel; 2. Single semiconductor quantum dots in nanowires: growth, optics, and devices M. E. Reimer, N. Akopian, M. Barkelid, G. Bulgarini, R. Heeres, M. Hocevar, B. J. Witek, E. Bakkers and V. Zwiller; 3. Atomic scale analysis of self-assembled quantum dots by cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy and atom probe tomography J. G. Keizer and P. M. Koenraad; Part II. Manipulation of Individual Quantum States in Quantum Dots Using Optical Techniques: 4. Studies of the hole spin in self-assembled quantum dots using optical techniques B. D. Gerardot and R. J. Warburton; 5. Resonance fluorescence from a single quantum dot A. N. Vamivakas, C. Matthiesen, Y. Zhao, C.-Y. Lu and M. Atature; 6. Coherent control of quantum dot excitons using ultra-fast optical techniques A. J. Ramsay and A. M. Fox; 7. Optical probing of holes in quantum dot molecules: structure, symmetry, and spin M. F. Doty and J. I. Climente; Part III. Optical Properties of Quantum Dots in Photonic Cavities and Plasmon-Coupled Dots: 8. Deterministic light-matter coupling using single quantum dots P. Senellart; 9. Quantum dots in photonic crystal cavities A. Faraon, D. Englund, I. Fushman, A. Majumdar and J. Vukovic; 10. Photon statistics in quantum dot micropillar emission M. Asmann and M. Bayer; 11. Nanoplasmonics with colloidal quantum dots V. Temnov and U. Woggon; Part IV. Quantum Dot Nano-Laboratory: Magnetic Ions and Nuclear Spins in a Dot: 12. Dynamics and optical control of an individual Mn spin in a quantum dot L. Besombes, C. Le Gall, H. Boukari and H. Mariette; 13. Optical spectroscopy of InAs/GaAs quantum dots doped with a single Mn atom O. Krebs and A. Lemaitre; 14. Nuclear spin effects in quantum dot optics B. Urbaszek, B. Eble, T. Amand and X. Marie; Part V. Electron Transport in Quantum Dots Fabricated by

  2. Quadra-quantum Dots and Related Patterns of Quantum Dot Molecules:

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Somsak Panyakeow

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Laterally close-packed quantum dots (QDs called quantum dot molecules (QDMs are grown by modified molecular beam epitaxy (MBE. Quantum dots could be aligned and cross hatched. Quantum rings (QRs created from quantum dot transformation during thin or partial capping are used as templates for the formations of bi-quantum dot molecules (Bi-QDMs and quantum dot rings (QDRs. Preferable quantum dot nanostructure for quantum computation based on quantum dot cellular automata (QCA is laterally close-packed quantum dot molecules having four quantum dots at the corners of square configuration. These four quantum dot sets are called quadra-quantum dots (QQDs. Aligned quadra-quantum dots with two electron confinements work like a wire for digital information transmission by Coulomb repulsion force, which is fast and consumes little power. Combination of quadra-quantum dots in line and their cross-over works as logic gates and memory bits. Molecular Beam Epitaxial growth technique called ‘‘Droplet Epitaxy” has been developed for several quantum nanostructures such as quantum rings and quantum dot rings. Quantum rings are prepared by using 20 ML In-Ga (15:85 droplets deposited on a GaAs substrate at 390°C with a droplet growth rate of 1ML/s. Arsenic flux (7–8×10-6Torr is then exposed for InGaAs crystallization at 200°C for 5 min. During droplet epitaxy at a high droplet thickness and high temperature, out-diffusion from the centre of droplets occurs under anisotropic strain. This leads to quantum ring structures having non-uniform ring stripes and deep square-shaped nanoholes. Using these peculiar quantum rings as templates, four quantum dots situated at the corners of a square shape are regrown. Two of these four quantum dots are aligned either or , which are preferable crystallographic directions of quantum dot alignment in general.

  3. Colloidal quantum dot photovoltaics: The effect of polydispersity

    KAUST Repository

    Zhitomirsky, David

    2012-02-08

    The size-effect tunability of colloidal quantum dots enables facile engineering of the bandgap at the time of nanoparticle synthesis. The dependence of effective bandgap on nanoparticle size also presents a challenge if the size dispersion, hence bandgap variability, is not well-controlled within a given quantum dot solid. The impact of this polydispersity is well-studied in luminescent devices as well as in unipolar electronic transport; however, the requirements on monodispersity have yet to be quantified in photovoltaics. Here we carry out a series of combined experimental and model-based studies aimed at clarifying, and quantifying, the importance of quantum dot monodispersity in photovoltaics. We successfully predict, using a simple model, the dependence of both open-circuit voltage and photoluminescence behavior on the density of small-bandgap (large-diameter) quantum dot inclusions. The model requires inclusion of trap states to explain the experimental data quantitatively. We then explore using this same experimentally tested model the implications of a broadened quantum dot population on device performance. We report that present-day colloidal quantum dot photovoltaic devices with typical inhomogeneous linewidths of 100-150 meV are dominated by surface traps, and it is for this reason that they see marginal benefit from reduction in polydispersity. Upon eliminating surface traps, achieving inhomogeneous broadening of 50 meV or less will lead to device performance that sees very little deleterious impact from polydispersity. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

  4. Facile synthetic method for pristine graphene quantum dots and graphene oxide quantum dots: origin of blue and green luminescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Fei; Jang, Min-Ho; Ha, Hyun Dong; Kim, Je-Hyung; Cho, Yong-Hoon; Seo, Tae Seok

    2013-07-19

    Pristine graphene quantum dots and graphene oxide quantum dots are synthesized by chemical exfoliation from the graphite nanoparticles with high uniformity in terms of shape (circle), size (less than 4 nm), and thickness (monolayer). The origin of the blue and green photoluminescence of GQDs and GOQDs is attributed to intrinsic and extrinsic energy states, respectively. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  5. Synthesis of Cd-free InP/ZnS Quantum Dots Suitable for Biomedical Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, Matthew A; Grandinetti, Giovanna; Fichter, Katye M; Fichter, Kathryn M

    2016-02-06

    Fluorescent nanocrystals, specifically quantum dots, have been a useful tool for many biomedical applications. For successful use in biological systems, quantum dots should be highly fluorescent and small/monodisperse in size. While commonly used cadmium-based quantum dots possess these qualities, they are potentially toxic due to the possible release of Cd(2+) ions through nanoparticle degradation. Indium-based quantum dots, specifically InP/ZnS, have recently been explored as a viable alternative to cadmium-based quantum dots due to their relatively similar fluorescence characteristics and size. The synthesis presented here uses standard hot-injection techniques for effective nanoparticle growth; however, nanoparticle properties such as size, emission wavelength, and emission intensity can drastically change due to small changes in the reaction conditions. Therefore, reaction conditions such temperature, reaction duration, and precursor concentration should be maintained precisely to yield reproducible products. Because quantum dots are not inherently soluble in aqueous solutions, they must also undergo surface modification to impart solubility in water. In this protocol, an amphiphilic polymer is used to interact with both hydrophobic ligands on the quantum dot surface and bulk solvent water molecules. Here, a detailed protocol is provided for the synthesis of highly fluorescent InP/ZnS quantum dots that are suitable for use in biomedical applications.

  6. Synthesis of Cd-free InP/ZnS Quantum Dots Suitable for Biomedical Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, Matthew A.; Grandinetti, Giovanna; Fichter, Katye M.

    2016-01-01

    Fluorescent nanocrystals, specifically quantum dots, have been a useful tool for many biomedical applications. For successful use in biological systems, quantum dots should be highly fluorescent and small/monodisperse in size. While commonly used cadmium-based quantum dots possess these qualities, they are potentially toxic due to the possible release of Cd2+ ions through nanoparticle degradation. Indium-based quantum dots, specifically InP/ZnS, have recently been explored as a viable alternative to cadmium-based quantum dots due to their relatively similar fluorescence characteristics and size. The synthesis presented here uses standard hot-injection techniques for effective nanoparticle growth; however, nanoparticle properties such as size, emission wavelength, and emission intensity can drastically change due to small changes in the reaction conditions. Therefore, reaction conditions such temperature, reaction duration, and precursor concentration should be maintained precisely to yield reproducible products. Because quantum dots are not inherently soluble in aqueous solutions, they must also undergo surface modification to impart solubility in water. In this protocol, an amphiphilic polymer is used to interact with both hydrophobic ligands on the quantum dot surface and bulk solvent water molecules. Here, a detailed protocol is provided for the synthesis of highly fluorescent InP/ZnS quantum dots that are suitable for use in biomedical applications. PMID:26891282

  7. Quadra-Quantum Dots and Related Patterns of Quantum Dot Molecules: Basic Nanostructures for Quantum Dot Cellular Automata Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Somsak Panyakeow

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Laterally close-packed quantum dots (QDs called quantum dot molecules (QDMs are grown by modified molecular beam epitaxy (MBE. Quantum dots could be aligned and cross hatched. Quantum rings (QRs created from quantum dot transformation during thin or partial capping are used as templates for the formations of bi-quantum dot molecules (Bi-QDMs and quantum dot rings (QDRs. Preferable quantum dot nanostructure for quantum computation based on quantum dot cellular automata (QCA is laterally close-packed quantum dot molecules having four quantum dots at the corners of square configuration. These four quantum dot sets are called quadra-quantum dots (QQDs. Aligned quadra-quantum dots with two electron confinements work like a wire for digital information transmission by Coulomb repulsion force, which is fast and consumes little power. Combination of quadra-quantum dots in line and their cross-over works as logic gates and memory bits. Molecular Beam Epitaxial growth technique called 'Droplet Epitaxy' has been developed for several quantum nanostructures such as quantum rings and quantum dot rings. Quantum rings are prepared by using 20 ML In-Ga (15:85 droplets deposited on a GaAs substrate at 390'C with a droplet growth rate of 1ML/s. Arsenic flux (7'8'10-6Torr is then exposed for InGaAs crystallization at 200'C for 5 min. During droplet epitaxy at a high droplet thickness and high temperature, out-diffusion from the centre of droplets occurs under anisotropic strain. This leads to quantum ring structures having non-uniform ring stripes and deep square-shaped nanoholes. Using these peculiar quantum rings as templates, four quantum dots situated at the corners of a square shape are regrown. Two of these four quantum dots are aligned either or, which are preferable crystallographic directions of quantum dot alignment in general.

  8. Interaction of Water-Soluble CdTe Quantum Dots with Bovine Serum Albumin

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Semiconductor nanoparticles (quantum dots) are promising fluorescent markers, but it is very little known about interaction of quantum dots with biological molecules. In this study, interaction of CdTe quantum dots coated with thioglycolic acid (TGA) with bovine serum albumin was investigated. Steady state spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering methods were used. It was explored how bovine serum albumin affects stability and spectral properties of quantum dots in aqueous media. CdTe–TGA quantum dots in aqueous solution appeared to be not stable and precipitated. Interaction with bovine serum albumin significantly enhanced stability and photoluminescence quantum yield of quantum dots and prevented quantum dots from aggregating. PMID:27502633

  9. Seeded emulsion polymerization as a powerful tool for the biofunctionalization of quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Habercorn, Lasse; Merkl, Jan-Philip; Kloust, Hauke Christian; Feld, Artur; Schmidtke, Christian; Wolter, Christopher; Janschel, Marcus [Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Grindelallee 117, 20146 Hamburg (Germany); Ostermann, Johannes [Center for Applied Nanotechnology GmbH, Grindelallee 117, 20146 Hamburg (Germany); Weller, Horst [Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Grindelallee 117, 20146 Hamburg (Germany); Center for Applied Nanotechnology GmbH, Grindelallee 117, 20146 Hamburg (Germany)

    2016-05-18

    With the polymer encapsulation of quantum dots via seeded emulsion polymerization we present a powerful tool for the preparation of fluorescent nanoparticles with an extraordinary stability in aqueous solution. The method of the seeded emulsion polymerization allows a straightforward and simple in situ functionalization of the polymer shell under preserving the optical properties of the quantum dots. These requirements are inevitable for the application of semiconductor nanoparticles as markers for biomedical applications. Polymer encapsulated quantum dots have shown only a marginal loss of quantum yields when they were exposed to copper(II)-ions. Under normal conditions the quantum dots were totally quenched in presence of copper(II)-ions. Furthermore, a broad range of in situ functionalized polymer-coated quantum dots were obtained by addition of functional monomers or surfactants like fluorescent dye molecules, antibodies or specific DNA aptamers. Furthermore the emulsion polymerization can be used to prepare multifunctional hybrid systems, combining different nanoparticles within one construct without any adverse effect of the properties of the starting materials.{sup 1,2}.

  10. Seeded emulsion polymerization as a powerful tool for the biofunctionalization of quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Habercorn, Lasse; Merkl, Jan-Philip; Kloust, Hauke Christian; Feld, Artur; Schmidtke, Christian; Wolter, Christopher; Janschel, Marcus; Ostermann, Johannes; Weller, Horst

    2016-01-01

    With the polymer encapsulation of quantum dots via seeded emulsion polymerization we present a powerful tool for the preparation of fluorescent nanoparticles with an extraordinary stability in aqueous solution. The method of the seeded emulsion polymerization allows a straightforward and simple in situ functionalization of the polymer shell under preserving the optical properties of the quantum dots. These requirements are inevitable for the application of semiconductor nanoparticles as markers for biomedical applications. Polymer encapsulated quantum dots have shown only a marginal loss of quantum yields when they were exposed to copper(II)-ions. Under normal conditions the quantum dots were totally quenched in presence of copper(II)-ions. Furthermore, a broad range of in situ functionalized polymer-coated quantum dots were obtained by addition of functional monomers or surfactants like fluorescent dye molecules, antibodies or specific DNA aptamers. Furthermore the emulsion polymerization can be used to prepare multifunctional hybrid systems, combining different nanoparticles within one construct without any adverse effect of the properties of the starting materials."1","2

  11. Interaction of porphyrins with CdTe quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Xing; Liu Zhongxin; Ma Lun; Hossu, Marius; Chen Wei

    2011-01-01

    Porphyrins may be used as photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy, photocatalysts for organic pollutant dissociation, agents for medical imaging and diagnostics, applications in luminescence and electronics. The detection of porphyrins is significantly important and here the interaction of protoporphyrin-IX (PPIX) with CdTe quantum dots was studied. It was observed that the luminescence of CdTe quantum dots was quenched dramatically in the presence of PPIX. When CdTe quantum dots were embedded into silica layers, almost no quenching by PPIX was observed. This indicates that PPIX may interact and alter CdTe quantum dots and thus quench their luminescence. The oxidation of the stabilizers such as thioglycolic acid (TGA) as well as the nanoparticles by the singlet oxygen generated from PPIX is most likely responsible for the luminescence quenching. The quenching of quantum dot luminescence by porphyrins may provide a new method for photosensitizer detection.

  12. Resonance fluorescence spectrum of a p-doped quantum dot coupled to a metallic nanoparticle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carreño, F.; Antón, M. A.; Arrieta-Yáñez, Francisco

    2013-11-01

    The resonance fluorescence spectrum (RFS) of a hybrid system consisting of a p-doped semiconductor quantum dot (QD) coupled to a metallic nanoparticle (MNP) is analyzed. The quantum dot is described as a four-level atomlike system using the density matrix formalism. The lower levels are Zeeman-split hole spin states and the upper levels correspond to positively charged excitons containing a spin-up, spin-down hole pair and a spin electron. A linearly polarized laser field drives two of the optical transitions of the QD and produces localized surface plasmons in the nanoparticle, which act back upon the QD. The frequencies of these localized plasmons are very different along the two principal axes of the nanoparticle, thus producing an anisotropic modification of the spontaneous emission rates of the allowed optical transitions, which is accompanied by very minor local field corrections. This manifests into dramatic modifications in the RFS of the hybrid system in contrast to the one obtained for the isolated QD. The RFS is analyzed as a function of the nanoparticle's aspect ratio, the external magnetic field applied in the Voigt geometry, and the Rabi frequency of the driving field. It is shown that the spin of the QD is imprinted onto certain sidebands of the RFS, and that the signal at these sidebands can be optimized by engineering the shape of the MNP.

  13. Optical response of hybrid semiconductor quantum dot-metal nanoparticle system: Beyond the dipole approximation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammadzadeh, Atefeh; Miri, MirFaez

    2018-01-01

    We study the response of a semiconductor quantum dot-metal nanoparticle system to an external field E 0 cos ( ω t ) . The borders between Fano, double peaks, weak transition, strong transition, and bistability regions of the phase diagram move considerably as one regards the multipole effects. The exciton-induced transparency is an artifact of the dipole approximation. The absorption of the nanoparticle, the population inversion of the quantum dot, the upper and lower limits of intensity where bistability occurs, the characteristic time to reach the steady state, and other features of the hybrid system change due to the multipole effects. The phase diagrams corresponding to the fields parallel and perpendicular to the axis of system are quite distinguishable. Thus, both the intensity and the polarization of the incident field can be used to control the system. In particular, the incident polarization can be used to switch on and switch off the bistable behavior. For applications such as miniaturized bistable devices and nanosensors sensitive to variations of the dielectric constant of the surrounding medium, multipole effects must be considered.

  14. Optical pumping of a single hole spin in a p-doped quantum dot coupled to a metallic nanoparticle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antón, M. A.; Carreño, F.; Melle, Sonia; Calderón, Oscar G.; Cabrera-Granado, E.; Singh, Mahi R.

    2013-05-01

    The preparation of quantum states with a defined spin is analyzed in a hybrid system consisting of a p-doped semiconductor quantum dot (QD) coupled to a metallic nanoparticle. The quantum dot is described as a four-level atom-like system using the density matrix formalism. The lower levels are Zeeman-split hole spin states and the upper levels correspond to positively charged excitons containing a spin-up, spin-down hole pair and a spin electron. A metallic nanoparticle with spheroidal geometry is placed in close proximity to the quantum dot, and its effects are considered in the quasistatic approximation. A linearly polarized laser field drives two of the optical transitions of the QD and produces localized surface plasmons in the nanoparticle which act back upon the QD. The frequencies of these localized plasmons are very different along the two principal axes of the nanoparticle, thus producing an anisotropic modification of the spontaneous emission rates of the allowed optical transitions which is accompanied by local-field corrections. This effect translates into a preferential acceleration of some of the optical pathways and therefore into a fast initialization of the QD by excitation with a short optical pulse. The population transfer between the lower levels of the QD and the fidelity is analyzed as a function of the nanoparticle's aspect ratio, the external magnetic field, and the Rabi frequency of the driving field. It is also shown that the main effect of the local-field corrections is a lengthening of the time elapsed to reach the steady-state. The hole spin is predicted to be successfully cooled from 5 to 0.04 K at a magnetic field of 4.6 T applied in the Voigt geometry.

  15. AgCl-doped CdSe quantum dots with near-IR photoluminescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotin, Pavel Aleksandrovich; Bubenov, Sergey Sergeevich; Mordvinova, Natalia Evgenievna; Dorofeev, Sergey Gennadievich

    2017-01-01

    We report the synthesis of colloidal CdSe quantum dots doped with a novel Ag precursor: AgCl. The addition of AgCl causes dramatic changes in the morphology of synthesized nanocrystals from spherical nanoparticles to tetrapods and finally to large ellipsoidal nanoparticles. Ellipsoidal nanoparticles possess an intensive near-IR photoluminescence ranging up to 0.9 eV (ca. 1400 nm). In this article, we explain the reasons for the formation of the ellipsoidal nanoparticles as well as the peculiarities of the process. The structure, Ag content, and optical properties of quantum dots are also investigated. The optimal conditions for maximizing both the reaction yield and IR photoluminescence quantum yield are found.

  16. Correlative Light- and Electron Microscopy Using Quantum Dot Nanoparticles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Killingsworth, Murray C; Bobryshev, Yuri V

    2016-08-07

    A method is described whereby quantum dot (QD) nanoparticles can be used for correlative immunocytochemical studies of human pathology tissue using widefield fluorescence light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). To demonstrate the protocol we have immunolabeled ultrathin epoxy sections of human somatostatinoma tumor using a primary antibody to somatostatin, followed by a biotinylated secondary antibody and visualization with streptavidin conjugated 585 nm cadmium-selenium (CdSe) quantum dots (QDs). The sections are mounted on a TEM specimen grid then placed on a glass slide for observation by widefield fluorescence light microscopy. Light microscopy reveals 585 nm QD labeling as bright orange fluorescence forming a granular pattern within the tumor cell cytoplasm. At low to mid-range magnification by light microscopy the labeling pattern can be easily recognized and the level of non-specific or background labeling assessed. This is a critical step for subsequent interpretation of the immunolabeling pattern by TEM and evaluation of the morphological context. The same section is then blotted dry and viewed by TEM. QD probes are seen to be attached to amorphous material contained in individual secretory granules. Images are acquired from the same region of interest (ROI) seen by light microscopy for correlative analysis. Corresponding images from each modality may then be blended to overlay fluorescence data on TEM ultrastructure of the corresponding region.

  17. Electrochemiluminescent detection of Pb{sup 2+} by graphene/gold nanoparticles and CdSe quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lu, Liping, E-mail: lipinglu@bjut.edu.cn; Guo, Linqing; Li, Jiao; Kang, Tianfang; Cheng, Shuiyuan

    2016-12-01

    Highlights: • An ECL sensor was fabricated based on the distance dependent between CdSe QDs and gold nanoparticles. • The ssDNA strands rich in G bases adopt the G4 conformation when Pb{sup 2+} is present in detection system. • AuNPs/RGO composite improved the performance of electron transfer of sensor. • The ECL sensor was used to detect Pb{sup 2+} concentration in an actual water sample with high sensitivity and selectivity. - Abstract: A highly sensitive electrochemiluminescent detection method for lead ions (Pb(II)) was fabricated based on the distance-dependent quenching of the electrochemiluminescence from CdSe quantum dots by nanocomposites of graphene and gold nanoparticles. Graphene/gold nanoparticles were electrochemically deposited onto a glassy carbon electrode through the constant potential method. Thiol-labeled DNA was then assembled on the surface of the electrode via gold−sulfur bonding, following which the amino-labeled terminal of the DNA was linked to carboxylated CdSe quantum dots by the formation of amide bonds. The 27-base aptamer was designed with two different domains: the immobilization and detection sequences. The immobilization sequence was paired with 12 complementary bases and immobilized on the gold electrode; the single-stranded detection sequence, rich in G bases, formed a G-quadruplex (G4) structure in the presence of Pb{sup 2+}. The formation of G4 shortens the distance between the CdSe quantum dots and the Au electrode, which decreases the electrochemiluminescent intensity in a linear fashion, proportional to the concentration of Pb(II). The linear range of the sensor was 10{sup −10} to 10{sup −8} mol/L (R = 0.9819) with a detection limit of 10{sup −10} mol/L. This sensor detected Pb(II) in real water samples with satisfactory results.

  18. Fano Effect and Quantum Entanglement in Hybrid Semiconductor Quantum Dot-Metal Nanoparticle System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Yong; Zhu, Ka-Di

    2017-06-20

    In this paper, we review the investigation for the light-matter interaction between surface plasmon field in metal nanoparticle (MNP) and the excitons in semiconductor quantum dots (SQDs) in hybrid SQD-MNP system under the full quantum description. The exciton-plasmon interaction gives rise to the modified decay rate and the exciton energy shift which are related to the exciton energy by using a quantum transformation method. We illustrate the responses of the hybrid SQD-MNP system to external field, and reveal Fano effect shown in the absorption spectrum. We demonstrate quantum entanglement between two SQD mediated by surface plasmon field. In the absence of a laser field, concurrence of quantum entanglement will disappear after a few ns. If the laser field is present, the steady states appear, so that quantum entanglement produced will reach a steady-state entanglement. Because one of all optical pathways to induce Fano effect refers to the generation of quantum entangled states, It is shown that the concurrence of quantum entanglement can be obtained by observation for Fano effect. In a hybrid system including two MNP and a SQD, because the two Fano quantum interference processes share a segment of all optical pathways, there is correlation between the Fano effects of the two MNP. The investigations for the light-matter interaction in hybrid SQD-MNP system can pave the way for the development of the optical processing devices and quantum information based on the exciton-plasmon interaction.

  19. Fano Effect and Quantum Entanglement in Hybrid Semiconductor Quantum Dot-Metal Nanoparticle System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yong He

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we review the investigation for the light-matter interaction between surface plasmon field in metal nanoparticle (MNP and the excitons in semiconductor quantum dots (SQDs in hybrid SQD-MNP system under the full quantum description. The exciton-plasmon interaction gives rise to the modified decay rate and the exciton energy shift which are related to the exciton energy by using a quantum transformation method. We illustrate the responses of the hybrid SQD-MNP system to external field, and reveal Fano effect shown in the absorption spectrum. We demonstrate quantum entanglement between two SQD mediated by surface plasmon field. In the absence of a laser field, concurrence of quantum entanglement will disappear after a few ns. If the laser field is present, the steady states appear, so that quantum entanglement produced will reach a steady-state entanglement. Because one of all optical pathways to induce Fano effect refers to the generation of quantum entangled states, It is shown that the concurrence of quantum entanglement can be obtained by observation for Fano effect. In a hybrid system including two MNP and a SQD, because the two Fano quantum interference processes share a segment of all optical pathways, there is correlation between the Fano effects of the two MNP. The investigations for the light-matter interaction in hybrid SQD-MNP system can pave the way for the development of the optical processing devices and quantum information based on the exciton-plasmon interaction.

  20. Quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kouwenhoven, L.; Marcus, C.

    1998-01-01

    Quantum dots are man-made ''droplets'' of charge that can contain anything from a single electron to a collection of several thousand. Their typical dimensions range from nanometres to a few microns, and their size, shape and interactions can be precisely controlled through the use of advanced nanofabrication technology. The physics of quantum dots shows many parallels with the behaviour of naturally occurring quantum systems in atomic and nuclear physics. Indeed, quantum dots exemplify an important trend in condensed-matter physics in which researchers study man-made objects rather than real atoms or nuclei. As in an atom, the energy levels in a quantum dot become quantized due to the confinement of electrons. With quantum dots, however, an experimentalist can scan through the entire periodic table by simply changing a voltage. In this article the authors describe how quantum dots make it possible to explore new physics in regimes that cannot otherwise be accessed in the laboratory. (UK)

  1. Capping biological quantum dots with the peptide CLPFFD to increase stability and to reduce effects on cell viability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Riveros, A. L., E-mail: ariveros@postqyf.uchile.cl [Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas (Chile); Astudillo, J., E-mail: jason.astudillo@usach.cl; Vásquez, C. C., E-mail: claudio.vasquez@usach.cl [Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Facultad de Química y Biología (Chile); Jara, Danilo H., E-mail: Danilo.H.JaraQuinteros.1@nd.edu [University of Notre Dame, Radiation Laboratory, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (United States); Guerrero, Ariel R. [Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas (Chile); Guzman, F., E-mail: fanny.guzman@ucv.cl [Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Núcleo de Biotecnología Curauma (Chile); Osorio-Roman, I. O., E-mail: igor.orlando@gmail.com [University of Windsor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Canada); Kogan, M. J., E-mail: mkogan@ciq.uchile.cl [Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas (Chile)

    2016-08-15

    Highly fluorescent nanoparticles, or quantum dots, have multiple applications in biology and biomedicine; however, in most cases, it is necessary to functionalize them to enhance their biocompatibility and selectivity. Generally, functionalization is performed after nanoparticle synthesis and involves the use of molecules or macromolecules having two important traits: specific biological activity and functional groups that facilitate nanoparticle capping (i.e. atom–atom interaction). For this reason, we carried out a simple protocol for the chemical synthesis of cadmium telluride quantum dots capped with glutathione, and we then functionalized these nanoparticles with the amphipathic peptide CLPFFD. This peptide attaches selectively to β-Amyloid fibres, which are involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Our results show that the optical properties of the quantum dots are not affected by functionalization with this peptide. Infrared spectra showed that cadmium telluride quantum dots were functionalized with the peptide CLPFFD. In addition, no significant differences were observed between the surface charge of the quantum dots with or without CLPFFD and the nanocrystal size calculated for HR-TEM was 4.2 nm. Finally, our results show that quantum dots with CLPFFD are stable and that they resulted in a significantly reduced cytotoxicity with respect to that induced by quantum dots not conjugated with the peptide. Moreover, the results show that the CLPFFD-functionalized nanoparticles bind to β-Amyloid fibres.

  2. The inhibition of optical excitations and enhancement of Rabi flopping in hybrid quantum dot-metallic nanoparticle systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sadeghi, S M

    2009-01-01

    We study the inhibition of optical excitation and enhancement of Rabi flopping and frequency in semiconductor quantum dots via plasmonic effects. This is done by demonstrating that the interaction of a quantum dot with a laser field in the vicinity of a metallic nanoparticle can be described in terms of optical Bloch equations with a plasmically normalized Rabi frequency. We show that in the weak-field regime plasmonic effects can suppress the interband transitions, inhibiting exciton generation. In the strong-field regime these effects delay the response of the quantum dot to the laser field and enhance Rabi flopping. We relate these to the conversion of Rabi frequency from a real quantity into a complex and strongly frequency-dependent quantity as plasmonic effects become significant. We show that, within the strong-field regime, in the wavelength range where real and imaginary parts of this frequency reach their maxima, a strongly frequency-dependent enhancement of carrier excitation can happen.

  3. An ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor for glucose using CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot as ultrafast electron transfer relay between graphene-gold nanocomposite and gold nanoparticle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gu Zhiguo; Yang Shuping; Li Zaijun; Sun Xiulan; Wang Guangli; Fang Yinjun; Liu Junkang

    2011-01-01

    Graphical abstract: We first reported an ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor for glucose using CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot as ultrafast electron transfer relay between graphene-gold nanocomposite and gold nanoparticle. Since promising their electrocatalytic synergy towards glucose was achieved, the biosensor showed high sensitivity (5762.8 nA nM -1 cm -2 ), low detection limit (S/N = 3) (3 x 10 -12 M) and fast response time (0.045 s). - Abstract: The paper reported an ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor for glucose which was based on CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot as ultrafast electron transfer relay between graphene-gold nanocomposite and gold nanoparticle. Since efficient electron transfer between glucose oxidase and the electrode was achieved, the biosensor showed high sensitivity (5762.8 nA nM -1 cm -2 ), low detection limit (S/N = 3) (3 x 10 -12 M), fast response time (0.045 s), wide calibration range (from 1 x 10 -11 M to 1 x 10 -8 M) and good long-term stability (26 weeks). The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant of the glucose oxidase on the medium, 5.24 x 10 -6 mM, indicates excellent bioelectrocatalytic activity of the immobilized enzyme towards glucose oxidation. Moreover, the effects of omitting graphene-gold nanocomposite, CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot and gold nanoparticle were also investigated. The result showed sensitivity of the biosensor is 7.67-fold better if graphene-gold nanocomposite, CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot and gold nanoparticle are used. This could be ascribed to improvement of the conductivity between graphene nanosheets due to introduction of gold nanoparticles, ultrafast charge transfer from CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot to graphene nanosheets and gold nanoparticle due to unique electrochemical properties of the CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot and good biocompatibility of gold nanoparticle for glucose oxidase. The biosensor is of best sensitivity in all glucose biosensors based on graphene nanomaterials up to

  4. An ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor for glucose using CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot as ultrafast electron transfer relay between graphene-gold nanocomposite and gold nanoparticle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gu Zhiguo; Yang Shuping [School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122 (China); Li Zaijun, E-mail: zaijunli@263.net [School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122 (China); Sun Xiulan [School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122 (China); Wang Guangli [School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122 (China); Fang Yinjun [Zhejiang Zanyu Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 310009 (China); Liu Junkang [School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122 (China)

    2011-10-30

    Graphical abstract: We first reported an ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor for glucose using CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot as ultrafast electron transfer relay between graphene-gold nanocomposite and gold nanoparticle. Since promising their electrocatalytic synergy towards glucose was achieved, the biosensor showed high sensitivity (5762.8 nA nM{sup -1} cm{sup -2}), low detection limit (S/N = 3) (3 x 10{sup -12} M) and fast response time (0.045 s). - Abstract: The paper reported an ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor for glucose which was based on CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot as ultrafast electron transfer relay between graphene-gold nanocomposite and gold nanoparticle. Since efficient electron transfer between glucose oxidase and the electrode was achieved, the biosensor showed high sensitivity (5762.8 nA nM{sup -1} cm{sup -2}), low detection limit (S/N = 3) (3 x 10{sup -12} M), fast response time (0.045 s), wide calibration range (from 1 x 10{sup -11} M to 1 x 10{sup -8} M) and good long-term stability (26 weeks). The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant of the glucose oxidase on the medium, 5.24 x 10{sup -6} mM, indicates excellent bioelectrocatalytic activity of the immobilized enzyme towards glucose oxidation. Moreover, the effects of omitting graphene-gold nanocomposite, CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot and gold nanoparticle were also investigated. The result showed sensitivity of the biosensor is 7.67-fold better if graphene-gold nanocomposite, CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot and gold nanoparticle are used. This could be ascribed to improvement of the conductivity between graphene nanosheets due to introduction of gold nanoparticles, ultrafast charge transfer from CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot to graphene nanosheets and gold nanoparticle due to unique electrochemical properties of the CdTe-CdS core-shell quantum dot and good biocompatibility of gold nanoparticle for glucose oxidase. The biosensor is of best sensitivity in all glucose

  5. Quantum dots and nanocomposites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansur, Herman Sander

    2010-01-01

    Quantum dots (QDs), also known as semiconducting nanoparticles, are promising zero-dimensional advanced materials because of their nanoscale size and because they can be engineered to suit particular applications such as nonlinear optical devices (NLO), electro-optical devices, and computing applications. QDs can be joined to polymers in order to produce nanocomposites which can be considered a scientific revolution of the 21st century. One of the fastest moving and most exciting interfaces of nanotechnology is the use of QDs in medicine, cell and molecular biology. Recent advances in nanomaterials have produced a new class of markers and probes by conjugating semiconductor QDs with biomolecules that have affinities for binding with selected biological structures. The nanoscale of QDs ensures that they do not scatter light at visible or longer wavelengths, which is important in order to minimize optical losses in practical applications. Moreover, at this scale, quantum confinement and surface effects become very important and therefore manipulation of the dot diameter or modification of its surface allows the properties of the dot to be controlled. Quantum confinement affects the absorption and emission of photons from the dot. Thus, the absorption edge of a material can be tuned by control of the particle size. This paper reviews developments in the myriad of possibilities for the use of semiconductor QDs associated with molecules producing novel hybrid nanocomposite systems for nanomedicine and bioengineering applications.

  6. Dynamics of plasmonic field polarization induced by quantum coherence in quantum dot-metallic nanoshell structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadeghi, S M

    2014-09-01

    When a hybrid system consisting of a semiconductor quantum dot and a metallic nanoparticle interacts with a laser field, the plasmonic field of the metallic nanoparticle can be normalized by the quantum coherence generated in the quantum dot. In this Letter, we study the states of polarization of such a coherent-plasmonic field and demonstrate how these states can reveal unique aspects of the collective molecular properties of the hybrid system formed via coherent exciton-plasmon coupling. We show that transition between the molecular states of this system can lead to ultrafast polarization dynamics, including sudden reversal of the sense of variations of the plasmonic field and formation of circular and elliptical polarization.

  7. The interactions between CdTe quantum dots and proteins: understanding nano-bio interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shreeram S. Joglekar

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Despite remarkable developments in the nanoscience, relatively little is known about the physical (electrostatic interactions of nanoparticles with bio macromolecules. These interactions can influence the properties of both nanoparticles and the bio-macromolecules. Understanding this bio-interface is a prerequisite to utilize both nanoparticles and biomolecules for bioengineering. In this study, luminescent, water soluble CdTe quantum dots (QDs capped with mercaptopropionic acid (MPA were synthesized by organometallic method and then interaction between nanoparticles (QDs and three different types of proteins (BSA, Lysozyme and Hemoglobin were investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy at pH= 7.4. Based on fluorescence quenching results, Stern-Volmer quenching constant (Ksv, binding constant (Kq and binding sites (n for proteins were calculated. The results show that protein structure (e.g.,globular, metalloprotein, etc. has a significant role in Protein-Quantum dots interactions and each type of protein influence physicochemical properties of Quantum dots differently.

  8. Synthesis and characterization of graphene quantum dots/cobalt ferrite nanocomposite

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramachandran, Shilpa; Sathishkumar, M.; Kothurkar, Nikhil K.; Senthilkumar, R.

    2018-02-01

    A facile method has been developed for the synthesis of a graphene quantum dots/cobalt ferrite nanocomposite. Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) were synthesized by a simple bottom-up method using citric acid, followed by the co-precipitation of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles on the graphene quantum dots. The morphology, structural analysis, optical properties, magnetic properties were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) measurements. The synthesized nanocomposite showed good fluorescence and superparamagnetic properties, which are important for biomedical applications.

  9. Synthesis of SnS nanoparticles by SILAR method for quantum dot-sensitized solar cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsukigase, Hiroki; Suzuki, Yoshikazu; Berger, Marie-Hélène; Sagawa, Takashi; Yoshikawa, Susumu

    2011-03-01

    SnS-sensitized TiO2 electrodes were applied in quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) which are environmentally more favorable than conventional Cd or Pb-chalcogenide-sensitized electrodes. SnS nanoparticles were well-distributed over the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. Deposited SnS nanoparticles had diameter about 3 nm. Under AM1.5 irradiation with 100 mW/cm2 light intensity (at 1 sun), the energy conversion efficiency of obtained cells reached a value of 0.21% (0.25 cm2) at SILAR coating cycles of 5. In addition, the photovoltaic performance was improved by additional ZnS coating on the surface of SnS-sensitized TiO2 electrodes.

  10. PREFACE: Quantum dots as probes in biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cieplak, Marek

    2013-05-01

    The recent availability of nanostructured materials has resulted in an explosion of research focused on their unique optical, thermal, mechanical and magnetic properties. Optical imagining, magnetic enhancement of contrast and drug delivery capabilities make the nanoparticles of special interest in biomedical applications. These materials have been involved in the development of theranostics—a new field of medicine that is focused on personalized tests and treatment. It is likely that multimodal nanomaterials will be responsible for future diagnostic advances in medicine. Quantum dots (QD) are nanoparticles which exhibit luminescence either through the formation of three-dimensional excitons or excitations of the impurities. The excitonic luminescence can be tuned by changing the size (the smaller the size, the higher the frequency). QDs are usually made of semiconducting materials. Unlike fluorescent proteins and organic dyes, QDs resist photobleaching, allow for multi-wavelength excitations and have narrow emission spectra. The techniques to make QDs are cheap and surface modifications and functionalizations can be implemented. Importantly, QDs could be synthesized to exhibit useful optomagnetic properties and, upon functionalization with an appropriate biomolecule, directed towards a pre-selected target for diagnostic imaging and photodynamic therapy. This special issue on Quantum dots in Biology is focused on recent research in this area. It starts with a topical review by Sreenivasan et al on various physical mechanisms that lead to the QD luminescence and on using wavelength shifts for an improvement in imaging. The next paper by Szczepaniak et al discusses nanohybrids involving QDs made of CdSe coated by ZnS and combined covalently with a photosynthetic enzyme. These nanohybrids are shown to maintain the enzymatic activity, however the enzyme properties depend on the size of a QD. They are proposed as tools to study photosynthesis in isolated

  11. Plasmon-enhanced second harmonic generation in semiconductor quantum dots close to metal nanoparticles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea V. Bragas

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available We report the enhancement of the optical second harmonic signal in non-centrosymmetric semiconductor CdS quantum dots, when they are placed in close contact with isolated silver nanoparticles. The intensity enhancement is about 1000. We also show that the enhancement increases when the incoming laser frequency $omega$ is tuned toward the spectral position of the silver plasmon at $2omega$, proving that the silver nanoparticle modifies the nonlinear emission.Received: 8 March 2011, Accepted: 30 May 2011; Edited by: L. Viña; Reviewed by: R. Gordon, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; DOI: 10.4279/PIP.030002Cite as: P. M. Jais, C. von Bilderling, A. V. Bragas, Papers in Physics 3, 030002 (2011

  12. Synthesis of CdSe Quantum Dots Using Fusarium oxysporum

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takaaki Yamaguchi

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available CdSe quantum dots are often used in industry as fluorescent materials. In this study, CdSe quantum dots were synthesized using Fusarium oxysporum. The cadmium and selenium concentration, pH, and temperature for the culture of F. oxysporum (Fusarium oxysporum were optimized for the synthesis, and the CdSe quantum dots obtained from the mycelial cells of F. oxysporum were observed by transmission electron microscopy. Ultra-thin sections of F. oxysporum showed that the CdSe quantum dots were precipitated in the intracellular space, indicating that cadmium and selenium ions were incorporated into the cell and that the quantum dots were synthesized with intracellular metabolites. To reveal differences in F. oxysporum metabolism, cell extracts of F. oxysporum, before and after CdSe synthesis, were compared using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE. The results suggested that the amount of superoxide dismutase (SOD decreased after CdSe synthesis. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that cytoplasmic superoxide increased significantly after CdSe synthesis. The accumulation of superoxide may increase the expression of various metabolites that play a role in reducing Se4+ to Se2− and inhibit the aggregation of CdSe to make nanoparticles.

  13. Ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescent immunoassay for morphine using a gold electrode modified with CdS quantum dots, polyamidoamine, and gold nanoparticles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fei, Wenjuan; Chen, Feifei; Sun, Li; Li, Qianhua; Wu, Ying; Yang, Jianping

    2014-01-01

    We report on a novel electrochemiluminescent (ECL) immunoassay for the ultrasensitive determination of morphine by making use of a gold electrode which was modified with a nanocomposite film containing self-assembled polyamidoamine (PAMAM) CdS quantum dots and electrodeposited gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs). The highly uniform and well-dispersed quantum dots were capped with PAMAM dendrimers. Due to the synergistic effect of the modified quantum dots and the electrodeposited Au-NPs, the ECL response is dramatically enhanced. Under optimal experimental conditions, the immunoreaction between morphine and anti-morphine antibody resulted in a decrease of the ECL signal because of steric hindrance. The calibration plot is linear in the morphine concentration range from 0.2 to 180 ng•mL −1 , with a detection limit as low as 67 pg•mL −1 . The sensor was successfully applied to the determination of morphine in blood plasma. This kind of assay is expected to pave new avenues in label-free drug assays. (author)

  14. Quantum optics with single quantum dot devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zwiller, Valery; Aichele, Thomas; Benson, Oliver

    2004-01-01

    A single radiative transition in a single-quantum emitter results in the emission of a single photon. Single quantum dots are single-quantum emitters with all the requirements to generate single photons at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. It is also possible to generate more than single photons with single quantum dots. In this paper we show that single quantum dots can be used to generate non-classical states of light, from single photons to photon triplets. Advanced solid state structures can be fabricated with single quantum dots as their active region. We also show results obtained on devices based on single quantum dots

  15. Intracellular bimodal nanoparticles based on quantum dots for high-field MRI at 21.1 T.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenberg, Jens T; Kogot, Joshua M; Lovingood, Derek D; Strouse, Geoffrey F; Grant, Samuel C

    2010-09-01

    Multimodal, biocompatible contrast agents for high magnetic field applications represent a new class of nanomaterials with significant potential for tracking of fluorescence and MR in vitro and vivo. Optimized for high-field MR applications-including biomedical imaging at 21.1 T, the highest magnetic field available for MRI-these nanoparticles capitalize on the improved performance of chelated Dy(3+) with increasing magnetic field coupled to a noncytotoxic Indium Phosphide/Zinc Sulfide (InP/ZnS) quantum dot that provides fluorescence detection, MR responsiveness, and payload delivery. By surface modifying the quantum dot with a cell-penetrating peptide sequence coupled to an MR contrast agent, the bimodal nanomaterial functions as a self-transfecting high-field MR/optical contrast agent for nonspecific intracellular labeling. Fluorescent images confirm sequestration in perinuclear vesicles of labeled cells, with no apparent cytotoxicity. These techniques can be extended to impart cell selectivity or act as a delivery vehicle for genetic or pharmaceutical interventions. 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  16. Quantum Dot Platform for Single-Cell Molecular Profiling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zrazhevskiy, Pavel S.

    In-depth understanding of the nature of cell physiology and ability to diagnose and control the progression of pathological processes heavily rely on untangling the complexity of intracellular molecular mechanisms and pathways. Therefore, comprehensive molecular profiling of individual cells within the context of their natural tissue or cell culture microenvironment is essential. In principle, this goal can be achieved by tagging each molecular target with a unique reporter probe and detecting its localization with high sensitivity at sub-cellular resolution, primarily via microscopy-based imaging. Yet, neither widely used conventional methods nor more advanced nanoparticle-based techniques have been able to address this task up to date. High multiplexing potential of fluorescent probes is heavily restrained by the inability to uniquely match probes with corresponding molecular targets. This issue is especially relevant for quantum dot probes---while simultaneous spectral imaging of up to 10 different probes is possible, only few can be used concurrently for staining with existing methods. To fully utilize multiplexing potential of quantum dots, it is necessary to design a new staining platform featuring unique assignment of each target to a corresponding quantum dot probe. This dissertation presents two complementary versatile approaches towards achieving comprehensive single-cell molecular profiling and describes engineering of quantum dot probes specifically tailored for each staining method. Analysis of expanded molecular profiles is achieved through augmenting parallel multiplexing capacity with performing several staining cycles on the same specimen in sequential manner. In contrast to other methods utilizing quantum dots or other nanoparticles, which often involve sophisticated probe synthesis, the platform technology presented here takes advantage of simple covalent bioconjugation and non-covalent self-assembly mechanisms for straightforward probe

  17. Extracellular biosynthesis of CdTe quantum dots by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum and their anti-bacterial activity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Syed, Asad; Ahmad, Absar

    2013-04-01

    The growing demand for semiconductor [quantum dots (Q-dots)] nanoparticles has fuelled significant research in developing strategies for their synthesis and characterization. They are extensively investigated by the chemical route; on the other hand, use of microbial sources for biosynthesis witnessed the highly stable, water dispersible nanoparticles formation. Here we report, for the first time, an efficient fungal-mediated synthesis of highly fluorescent CdTe quantum dots at ambient conditions by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum when reacted with a mixture of CdCl2 and TeCl4. Characterization of these biosynthesized nanoparticles was carried out by different techniques such as Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, Photoluminescence (PL), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. CdTe nanoparticles shows antibacterial activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. The fungal based fabrication provides an economical, green chemistry approach for production of highly fluorescent CdTe quantum dots.

  18. Assembling tin dioxide quantum dots to graphene nanosheets by a facile ultrasonic route.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chen; Wang, Lijun; Liu, Yanyu; Chen, Zhiwen; Pan, Dengyu; Li, Zhen; Jiao, Zheng; Hu, Pengfei; Shek, Chan-Hung; Wu, C M Lawrence; Lai, Joseph K L; Wu, Minghong

    2013-03-26

    Nanocomposites have significant potential in the development of advanced materials for numerous applications. Tin dioxide (SnO2) is a functional material with wide-ranging prospects because of its high electronic mobility and wide band gap. Graphene as the basic plane of graphite is a single atomic layer two-dimensional sp(2) hybridized carbon material. Both have excellent physical and chemical properties. Here, SnO2 quantum dots/graphene composites have been successfully fabricated by a facile ultrasonic method. The experimental investigations indicated that the graphene was exfoliated and decorated with SnO2 quantum dots, which was dispersed uniformly on both sides of the graphene. The size distribution of SnO2 quantum dots was estimated to be ranging from 4 to 6 nm and their average size was calculated to be about 4.8 ± 0.2 nm. This facile ultrasonic route demonstrated that the loading of SnO2 quantum dots was an effective way to prevent graphene nanosheets from being restacked during the reduction. During the calcination process, the graphene nanosheets distributed between SnO2 nanoparticles have also prevented the agglomeration of SnO2 nanoparticles, which were beneficial to the formation of SnO2 quantum dots.

  19. Orientation-dependent imaging of electronically excited quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Duc; Goings, Joshua J.; Nguyen, Huy A.; Lyding, Joseph; Li, Xiaosong; Gruebele, Martin

    2018-02-01

    We previously demonstrated that we can image electronic excitations of quantum dots by single-molecule absorption scanning tunneling microscopy (SMA-STM). With this technique, a modulated laser beam periodically saturates an electronic transition of a single nanoparticle, and the resulting tunneling current modulation ΔI(x0, y0) maps out the SMA-STM image. In this paper, we first derive the basic theory to calculate ΔI(x0, y0) in the one-electron approximation. For near-resonant tunneling through an empty orbital "i" of the nanostructure, the SMA-STM signal is approximately proportional to the electron density |φi) (x0,y0)|nudge quantum dots on the surface and roll them, thus imaging excited state electronic structure of a single quantum dot at different orientations. We use density functional theory to model ODMs at various orientations, for qualitative comparison with the SMA-STM experiment. The model demonstrates that our experimentally observed signal monitors excited states, localized by defects near the surface of an individual quantum dot. The sub-nanometer super-resolution imaging technique demonstrated here could become useful for mapping out the three-dimensional structure of excited states localized by defects within nanomaterials.

  20. Directly deposited quantum dot solids using a colloidally stable nanoparticle ink

    KAUST Repository

    Fischer, Armin H.; Rollny, Lisa R.; Pan, Jun; Carey, Graham H.; Thon, Susanna; Hoogland, Sjoerd H.; Voznyy, Oleksandr; Zhitomirsky, David; Kim, Jinyoung; Bakr, Osman; Sargent, E. H.

    2013-01-01

    We develop a photovoltaic colloidal quantum dot ink that allows for lossless, single-step coating of large areas in a manufacturing-compatible process. Our materials strategy involves a solution-phase ligand exchange to transport compatible linkers that yield 1-thioglycerol-capped PbS quantum dots in dimethyl sulfoxide with a photoluminescence quantum yield of 24%. A proof-of-principle solar cell made from the ink exhibits 2.1% power conversion efficiency. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  1. Directly deposited quantum dot solids using a colloidally stable nanoparticle ink

    KAUST Repository

    Fischer, Armin H.

    2013-08-12

    We develop a photovoltaic colloidal quantum dot ink that allows for lossless, single-step coating of large areas in a manufacturing-compatible process. Our materials strategy involves a solution-phase ligand exchange to transport compatible linkers that yield 1-thioglycerol-capped PbS quantum dots in dimethyl sulfoxide with a photoluminescence quantum yield of 24%. A proof-of-principle solar cell made from the ink exhibits 2.1% power conversion efficiency. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  2. ZnS semiconductor quantum dots production by an endophytic fungus Aspergillus flavus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Uddandarao, Priyanka, E-mail: uddandaraopriyanka@gmail.com; B, Raj Mohan, E-mail: rajmohanbala@gmail.com

    2016-05-15

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Endophytic fungus Aspergillus flavus isolated from a medicinal plant Nothapodytes foetida was used for the synthesis of quantum dots. • Morris-Weber kinetic model and Lagergren's pseudo-first-order rate equation were used to study the biosorption kinetics. • Polycrystalline ZnS quantum dots of 18 nm and 58.9 nm from TEM and DLS, respectively. - Abstract: The development of reliable and eco-friendly processes for the synthesis of metal sulphide quantum dots has been considered as a major challenge in the field of nanotechnology. In the present study, polycrystalline ZnS quantum dots were synthesized from an endophytic fungus Aspergillus flavus. It is noteworthy that apart from being rich sources of bioactive compounds, endophytic fungus also has the ability to mediate the synthesis of nanoparticles. TEM and DLS revealed the formation of spherical particles with an average diameter of about 18 nm and 58.9 nm, respectively. The ZnS quantum dots were further characterized using SEM, EDAX, XRD, UV–visible spectroscopy and FTIR. The obtained results confirmed the synthesis of polycrystalline ZnS quantum dots and these quantum dots are used for studying ROS activity. In addition this paper explains kinetics of metal sorption to study the role of biosorption in synthesis of quantum dots by applying Morris-Weber kinetic model. Since Aspergillus flavus is isolated from a medicinal plant Nothapodytes foetida, quantum dots synthesized from this fungus may have great potential in broad environmental and medical applications.

  3. Quantum dot spectroscopy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leosson, Kristjan

    1999-01-01

    Semiconductor quantum dots ("solid state atoms") are promising candidates for quantum computers and future electronic and optoelectronic devices. Quantum dots are zero-dimensional electronic systems and therefore have discrete energy levels, similar to atoms or molecules. The size distribution of...

  4. Quantum dot spectroscopy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leosson, Kristjan

    Semiconductor quantum dots ("solid-state atoms") are promising candidates for quantum computers and future electronic and optoelectronic devices. Quantum dots are zero-dimensional electronic systems and therefore have discrete energy levels, similar to atoms or molecules. The size distribution of...

  5. The quantum Hall effect in quantum dot systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beltukov, Y M; Greshnov, A A

    2014-01-01

    It is proposed to use quantum dots in order to increase the temperatures suitable for observation of the integer quantum Hall effect. A simple estimation using Fock-Darwin spectrum of a quantum dot shows that good part of carriers localized in quantum dots generate the intervals of plateaus robust against elevated temperatures. Numerical calculations employing local trigonometric basis and highly efficient kernel polynomial method adopted for computing the Hall conductivity reveal that quantum dots may enhance peak temperature for the effect by an order of magnitude, possibly above 77 K. Requirements to potentials, quality and arrangement of the quantum dots essential for practical realization of such enhancement are indicated. Comparison of our theoretical results with the quantum Hall measurements in InAs quantum dot systems from two experimental groups is also given

  6. Study of Streptavidin-Modified Quantum Dots by Capillary Electrophoresis

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Stanisavljevic, M.; Janů, L.; Šmerková, K.; Křížková, S.; Pizúrová, Naděžda; Ryvolová, M.; Adam, V.; Hubálek, J.; Kizek, R.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 76, 7-8 (2013), s. 335-343 ISSN 0009-5893 Institutional support: RVO:68081723 Keywords : Capillary electrophoresis * Gel electrophoresis * Avidin-biotin technology * Oligonucleotide * Nanoparticle * quantum dots Subject RIV: CE - Biochemistry Impact factor: 1.370, year: 2013

  7. Quantum dots for quantum information technologies

    CERN Document Server

    2017-01-01

    This book highlights the most recent developments in quantum dot spin physics and the generation of deterministic superior non-classical light states with quantum dots. In particular, it addresses single quantum dot spin manipulation, spin-photon entanglement and the generation of single-photon and entangled photon pair states with nearly ideal properties. The role of semiconductor microcavities, nanophotonic interfaces as well as quantum photonic integrated circuits is emphasized. The latest theoretical and experimental studies of phonon-dressed light matter interaction, single-dot lasing and resonance fluorescence in QD cavity systems are also provided. The book is written by the leading experts in the field.

  8. Carboxymethyl chitosan based nanocomposites containing chemically bonded quantum dots and magnetic nanoparticles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Yongling; Yin, Hong; Chen, Rui; Bai, Ru; Chen, Chunying; Hao, Xiaojuan; Shen, Shirley; Sun, Kangning; Liu, Futian

    2018-03-01

    A biocompatible nanocomposite consisting of fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) has been constructed via carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS), resulting in magnetic-fluorescent nanoparticles (MFNPs). In these MFNPs, QDs and MNPs are successfully conjugated via covalent bonds onto the surface of CMCS. The composite retains favorable magnetic and fluorescent properties and shows a good colloidal stability in physiological environments. Folate (FA) as a specific targeting ligand was further incorporated into the nanocomposites to form a delivery vehicle with a targeting function. The therapeutic activity was achieved by loading chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (DOX) through electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. The cumulative DOX release profile shows pH-sensitive. Both flow cytometry analysis and confocal laser scanning microscopic observation suggested that these nanocomposites were uptaken by cancer cells via FA receptor-mediated endocytosis pathway. In summary, the CMCS based nanocomposites developed in this work have a great potential for effective cancer-targeting and drug delivery, as well as in situ cellular imaging.

  9. In vivo study of immunogenicity and kinetic characteristics of a quantum dot-labelled baculovirus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Meng; Zheng, Zhenhua; Meng, Jin; Wang, Han; He, Man; Zhang, Fuxian; Liu, Yan; Hu, Bin; He, Zike; Hu, Qinxue; Wang, Hanzhong

    2015-09-01

    Nanomaterials conjugated with biomacromolecules, including viruses, have great potential for in vivo applications. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the safety of nanoparticle-conjugated macromolecule biomaterials (Nano-mbio). Although a number of studies have assessed the risks of nanoparticles and macromolecule biomaterials in living bodies, only a few of them investigated Nano-mbios. Here we evaluated the in vivo safety profile of a quantum dot-conjugated baculovirus (Bq), a promising new Nano-mbio, in mice. Each animal was injected twice intraperitoneally with 50 μg virus protein labelled with around 3*10(-5)nmol conjugated qds. Control animals were injected with PBS, quantum dots, baculovirus, or a mixture of quantum dots and baculovirus. Blood, tissues and body weight were analysed at a series of time points following both the first and the second injections. It turned out that the appearance and behaviour of the mice injected with Bq were similar to those injected with baculovirus alone. However, combination of baculovirus and quantum dot (conjugated or simply mixed) significantly induced stronger adaptive immune responses, and lead to a faster accumulation and longer existence of Cd in the kidneys. Thus, despite the fact that both quantum dot and baculovirus have been claimed to be safe in vivo, applications of Bq in vivo should be cautious. To our knowledge, this is the first study examining the interaction between a nanoparticle-conjugated virus and a living body from a safety perspective, providing a basis for in vivo application of other Nano-mbios. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. From quantum dots to quantum circuits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ensslin, K.

    2008-01-01

    Full text: Quantum dots, or artificial atoms, confine charge carriers in three-dimensional islands in a semiconductor environment. Detailed understanding and exquisite control of the charge and spin state of the electrically tunable charge occupancy have been demonstrated over the years. Quantum dots with best quality for transport experiments are usually realized in n-type AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures. Novel material systems, such as graphene, nanowires and p-type heterostructures offer unexplored parameter regimes in view of spin-orbit interactions, carrier-carrier interactions and hyperfine coupling between electron and nuclear spins, which might be relevant for future spin qubits realized in quantum dots. With more sophisticated nanotechnology it has become possible to fabricate coupled quantum systems where classical and quantum mechanical coupling and back action is experimentally investigated. A narrow constriction, or quantum point contact, in vicinity to a quantum dot has been shown to serve as a minimally invasive sensor of the charge state of the dot. If charge transport through the quantum dot is slow enough (kHz), the charge sensor allows the detection of time-resolved transport through quantum-confined structures. This has allowed us to measure extremely small currents not detectable with conventional electronics. In addition the full statistics of current fluctuations becomes experimentally accessible. This way correlations between electrons which influence the current flow can be analyzed by measuring the noise and higher moments of the distribution of current fluctuations. Mesoscopic conductors driven out of equilibrium can emit photons which may be detected by another nearby quantum system with suitably tuned energy levels. This way an on-chip microwave single photon detector has been realized. In a ring geometry containing a tunable double quantum dot it has been possible to measure the self-interference of individual electrons as they traverse

  11. Fluorescent determination of graphene quantum dots in water samples

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Benítez-Martínez, Sandra; Valcárcel, Miguel, E-mail: qa1meobj@uco.es

    2015-10-08

    This work presents a simple, fast and sensitive method for the preconcentration and quantification of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) in aqueous samples. GQDs are considered an object of analysis (analyte) not an analytical tool which is the most frequent situation in Analytical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. This approach is based on the preconcentration of graphene quantum dots on an anion exchange sorbent by solid phase extraction and their subsequent elution prior fluorimetric analysis of the solution containing graphene quantum dots. Parameters of the extraction procedure such as sample volume, type of solvent, sample pH, sample flow rate and elution conditions were investigated in order to achieve extraction efficiency. The limits of detection and quantification were 7.5 μg L{sup −1} and 25 μg L{sup −1}, respectively. The precision for 200 μg L{sup −1}, expressed as %RSD, was 2.8%. Recoveries percentages between 86.9 and 103.9% were obtained for two different concentration levels. Interferences from other nanoparticles were studied and no significant changes were observed at the concentration levels tested. Consequently, the optimized procedure has great potential to be applied to the determination of graphene quantum dots at trace levels in drinking and environmental waters. - Highlights: • Development of a novel and simple method for determination of graphene quantum dots. • Preconcentration of graphene quantum dots by solid phase extraction. • Fluorescence spectroscopy allows fast measurements. • High sensitivity and great reproducibility are achieved.

  12. Modeling of the quantum dot filling and the dark current of quantum dot infrared photodetectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ameen, Tarek A.; El-Batawy, Yasser M.; Abouelsaood, A. A.

    2014-01-01

    A generalized drift-diffusion model for the calculation of both the quantum dot filling profile and the dark current of quantum dot infrared photodetectors is proposed. The confined electrons inside the quantum dots produce a space-charge potential barrier between the two contacts, which controls the quantum dot filling and limits the dark current in the device. The results of the model reasonably agree with a published experimental work. It is found that increasing either the doping level or the temperature results in an exponential increase of the dark current. The quantum dot filling turns out to be nonuniform, with a dot near the contacts containing more electrons than one in the middle of the device where the dot occupation approximately equals the number of doping atoms per dot, which means that quantum dots away from contacts will be nearly unoccupied if the active region is undoped

  13. Scalable quantum computer architecture with coupled donor-quantum dot qubits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schenkel, Thomas; Lo, Cheuk Chi; Weis, Christoph; Lyon, Stephen; Tyryshkin, Alexei; Bokor, Jeffrey

    2014-08-26

    A quantum bit computing architecture includes a plurality of single spin memory donor atoms embedded in a semiconductor layer, a plurality of quantum dots arranged with the semiconductor layer and aligned with the donor atoms, wherein a first voltage applied across at least one pair of the aligned quantum dot and donor atom controls a donor-quantum dot coupling. A method of performing quantum computing in a scalable architecture quantum computing apparatus includes arranging a pattern of single spin memory donor atoms in a semiconductor layer, forming a plurality of quantum dots arranged with the semiconductor layer and aligned with the donor atoms, applying a first voltage across at least one aligned pair of a quantum dot and donor atom to control a donor-quantum dot coupling, and applying a second voltage between one or more quantum dots to control a Heisenberg exchange J coupling between quantum dots and to cause transport of a single spin polarized electron between quantum dots.

  14. Statistical analysis of AFM topographic images of self-assembled quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sevriuk, V. A.; Brunkov, P. N., E-mail: brunkov@mail.ioffe.ru; Shalnev, I. V.; Gutkin, A. A.; Klimko, G. V.; Gronin, S. V.; Sorokin, S. V.; Konnikov, S. G. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute (Russian Federation)

    2013-07-15

    To obtain statistical data on quantum-dot sizes, AFM topographic images of the substrate on which the dots under study are grown are analyzed. Due to the nonideality of the substrate containing height differences on the order of the size of nanoparticles at distances of 1-10 {mu}m and the insufficient resolution of closely arranged dots due to the finite curvature radius of the AFM probe, automation of the statistical analysis of their large dot array requires special techniques for processing topographic images to eliminate the loss of a particle fraction during conventional processing. As such a technique, convolution of the initial matrix of the AFM image with a specially selected matrix is used. This makes it possible to determine the position of each nanoparticle and, using the initial matrix, to measure their geometrical parameters. The results of statistical analysis by this method of self-assembled InAs quantum dots formed on the surface of an AlGaAs epitaxial layer are presented. It is shown that their concentration, average size, and half-width of height distribution depend strongly on the In flow and total amount of deposited InAs which are varied within insignificant limits.

  15. Design of quantum dot lattices in amorphous matrices by ion beam irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buljan, M.; Bogdanovic-Radovic, I.; Karlusic, M.; Desnica, U. V.; Radic, N.; Jaksic, M.; Salamon, K.; Drazic, G.; Bernstorff, S.; Holy, V.

    2011-01-01

    We report on the highly controllable self-assembly of semiconductor quantum dots and metallic nanoparticles in a solid amorphous matrix, induced by ion beam irradiation of an amorphous multilayer. We demonstrate experimentally and theoretically a possibility to tune the basic structural properties of the quantum dots in a wide range. Furthermore, the sizes, distances, and arrangement type of the quantum dots follow simple equations dependent on the irradiation and the multilayer properties. We present a Monte Carlo model for the simulation and prediction of the structural properties of the materials formed by this method. The presented results enable engineering and simple production of functional materials or simple devices interesting for applications in nanotechnology.

  16. Ordered quantum-ring chains grown on a quantum-dot superlattice template

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Jiang; Wang, Zhiming M.; Holmes, Kyland; Marega, Euclydes; Mazur, Yuriy I.; Salamo, Gregory J.

    2012-01-01

    One-dimensional ordered quantum-ring chains are fabricated on a quantum-dot superlattice template by molecular beam epitaxy. The quantum-dot superlattice template is prepared by stacking multiple quantum-dot layers and quantum-ring chains are formed by partially capping quantum dots. Partially capping InAs quantum dots with a thin layer of GaAs introduces a morphological change from quantum dots to quantum rings. The lateral ordering is introduced by engineering the strain field of a multi-layer InGaAs quantum-dot superlattice.

  17. Exciton shelves for charge and energy transport in third-generation quantum-dot devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, Samuel; Singh, Vivek; Noh, Hyunwoo; Casamada, Josep; Chatterjee, Anushree; Cha, Jennifer; Nagpal, Prashant

    2014-03-01

    Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystallites with size-dependent quantum-confined energy levels. While they have been intensively investigated to utilize hot-carriers for photovoltaic applications, to bridge the mismatch between incident solar photons and finite bandgap of semiconductor photocells, efficient charge or exciton transport in quantum-dot films has proven challenging. Here we show development of new coupled conjugated molecular wires with ``exciton shelves'', or different energy levels, matched with the multiple energy levels of quantum dots. Using single nanoparticle and ensemble device measurements we show successful extraction and transport of both bandedge and high-energy charge carriers, and energy transport of excitons. We demonstrate using measurements of electronic density of states, that careful matching of energy states of quantum-dot with molecular wires is important, and any mismatch can generate midgap states leading to charge recombination and reduced efficiency. Therefore, these exciton-shelves and quantum dots can lead to development of next-generation photovoltaic and photodetection devices using simultaneous transport of bandedge and hot-carriers or energy transport of excitons in these nanostructured solution-processed films.

  18. Direct self-assembling and patterning of semiconductor quantum dots on transferable elastomer layer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coppola, Sara [Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent System- CNR, Via Campi Flegrei 34, Pozzuoli, 80078 (Italy); Vespini, Veronica, E-mail: v.vespini@isasi.cnr.it [Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent System- CNR, Via Campi Flegrei 34, Pozzuoli, 80078 (Italy); Olivieri, Federico [Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent System- CNR, Via Campi Flegrei 34, Pozzuoli, 80078 (Italy); University of Naples Federico II, Department of Chemical Materials and Production Engineering, Piazzale Tecchio 80, Naples 80125 (Italy); Nasti, Giuseppe; Todino, Michele; Mandracchia, Biagio; Pagliarulo, Vito; Ferraro, Pietro [Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent System- CNR, Via Campi Flegrei 34, Pozzuoli, 80078 (Italy)

    2017-03-31

    Highlights: • A quantum dots self-patterning on micrometrical polymeric array is proposed. • The effect of a quantum dots mix on the array is evaluated. • A PDMS membrane is exploited to transfer the pattern on it. - Abstract: Functionalization of thin and stretchable polymer layers by nano- and micro-patterning of nanoparticles is a very promising field of research that can lead to many different applications in biology and nanotechnology. In this work, we present a new procedure to self-assemble semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) nanoparticles by a simple fabrication process on a freestanding flexible PolyDiMethylSiloxane (PDMS) membrane. We used a Periodically Poled Lithium Niobate (PPLN) crystal to imprint a micrometrical pattern on the PDMS membrane that drives the QDs self-structuring on its surface. This process allows patterning QDs with different wavelength emissions in a single step in order to tune the overall emission spectrum of the composite, tuning the QDs mixing ratio.

  19. Uptake, retention and internalization of quantum dots in Daphnia is influenced by particle surface functionalization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feswick, A., E-mail: afeswick@yahoo.ca [Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology, University of Florida, PO Box 110885, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States); Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, PO Box 5050, Saint John NB, CA (United States); Griffitt, R.J., E-mail: joe.griffitt@usm.edu [Department of Coastal Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, MS 39564 (United States); Siebein, K., E-mail: kerry.siebein@nist.gov [Major Analytical Instrumentation Center, University of Florida, PO Box 116400, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States); Barber, D.S., E-mail: barberd@vetmed.ufl.edu [Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology, University of Florida, PO Box 110885, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States)

    2013-04-15

    Highlights: ► Daphnia underwent a waterborne exposure of PEG, NH{sub 2} and COOH functionalized quantum dot nanoparticles. ► There was preferential retention of COOH nanoparticles. ► TEM demonstrated that NH{sub 2} and COOH nanoparticles were internalized in cells adjacent to the GI tract. ► This cellular internalization was confirmed using energy dispersive spectroscopy. -- Abstract: Nanomaterials are a diverse group of compounds whose inevitable release into the environment warrants study of the fundamental processes that govern the ingestion, uptake and accumulation in aquatic organisms. Nanomaterials have the ability to transfer to higher trophic levels in aquatic ecosystems, and recent evidence suggests that the surface chemistry of both the nanoparticle and biological membrane can influence uptake kinetics. Therefore, our study investigates the effect of surface functionalization on uptake, internalization and depuration in Daphnia spp. Uncharged (polyethylene glycol; PEG), positively charged (amino-terminated: NH{sub 2}) and negatively charged (carboxyl-modified; COOH) cadmium selenide/zinc sulfide quantum dots were used to monitor ingestion, uptake and depuration of nanometals in Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia dubia over 24 h of exposure. These studies demonstrated that particles with higher negative charge (COOH quantum dots) were taken up to a greater extent by Daphnia (259.17 ± 17.70 RFU/20 Daphnia) than either the NH{sub 2} (150.01 ± 18.91) or PEG quantum dots (95.17 ± 9.78), however this is likely related to the functional groups attached to the nanoparticles as there were no real differences in zeta potential. Whole body fluorescence associates well with fluorescent microscopic images obtained at the 24 h timepoint. Confocal and electron microscopic analysis clearly demonstrated that all three types of quantum dots could cross the intestinal epithelial barrier and be translocated to other cells. Upon cessation of exposure, elimination of

  20. Solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics using quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerard, J.M.; Gayral, B.; Moreau, E.; Robert, I.; Abram, I.

    2001-01-01

    We review the recent development of solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics using single self-assembled InAs quantum dots and three-dimensional semiconductor microcavities. We discuss first prospects for observing a strong coupling regime for single quantum dots. We then demonstrate that the strong Purcell effect observed for single quantum dots in the weak coupling regime allows us to prepare emitted photons in a given state (the same spatial mode, the same polarization). We present finally the first single-mode solid-state source of single photons, based on an isolated quantum dot in a pillar microcavity. This optoelectronic device, the first ever to rely on a cavity quantum electrodynamics effect, exploits both Coulomb interaction between trapped carriers in a single quantum dot and single mode photon tunneling in the microcavity. (author)

  1. Polarization-insensitive quantum-dot coupled quantum-well semiconductor optical amplifier

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Lirong; Yu Yi; Tian Peng; Huang Dexiu

    2009-01-01

    The optical gain of a quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifier is usually seriously dependent on polarization; we propose a quantum-dot coupled tensile-strained quantum-well structure to obtain polarization insensitivity. The tensile-strained quantum well not only serves as a carrier injection layer of quantum dots but also offers gain to the transverse-magnetic mode. Based on the polarization-dependent coupled carrier rate-equation model, we study carrier competition among quantum well and quantum dots, and study the polarization dependence of the quantum-dot coupled quantum-well semiconductor optical amplifier. We also analyze polarization-dependent photon-mediated carrier distribution among quantum well and quantum dots. It is shown that polarization-insensitive gain can be realized by optimal design

  2. Chemical nature and structure of organic coating of quantum dots is crucial for their application in imaging diagnostics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakalova, Rumiana; Zhelev, Zhivko; Kokuryo, Daisuke; Spasov, Lubomir; Aoki, Ichio; Saga, Tsuneo

    2011-01-01

    Background: One of the most attractive properties of quantum dots is their potential to extend the opportunities for fluorescent and multimodal imaging in vivo. The aim of the present study was to clarify whether the composition and structure of organic coating of nanoparticles are crucial for their application in vivo. Methods: We compared quantum dots coated with non-crosslinked amino-functionalized polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers, quantum dots encapsulated in crosslinked carboxyl-functionalized PAMAM dendrimers, and silica-shelled amino-functionalized quantum dots. A multimodal fluorescent and paramagnetic quantum dot probe was also developed and analyzed. The probes were applied intravenously in anesthetized animals for visualization of brain vasculature using two-photon excited fluorescent microscopy and visualization of tumors using fluorescent IVIS® imaging (Caliper Life Sciences, Hopkinton, MA) and magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Quantum dots coated with non-crosslinked dendrimers were cytotoxic. They induced side effects in vivo, including vasodilatation with a decrease in mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate. The quantum dots penetrated the vessels, which caused the quality of fluorescent imaging to deteriorate. Quantum dots encapsulated in crosslinked dendrimers had low cytotoxicity and were biocompatible. In concentrations quantum dots/kg bodyweight, these nanoparticles did not affect blood pressure and heart rate, and did not induce vasodilatation or vasoconstriction. PEGylation (PEG [polyethylene glycol]) was an indispensable step in development of a quantum dot probe for in vivo imaging, based on silica-shelled quantum dots. The non-PEGylated silica-shelled quantum dots possessed low colloidal stability in high-salt physiological fluids, accompanied by rapid aggregation in vivo. The conjugation of silica-shelled quantum dots with PEG1100 increased their stability and half-life in the circulation without significant enhancement of their

  3. Synthesis of quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDaniel, Hunter

    2017-10-17

    Common approaches to synthesizing alloyed quantum dots employ high-cost, air-sensitive phosphine complexes as the selenium precursor. Disclosed quantum dot synthesis embodiments avoid these hazardous and air-sensitive selenium precursors. Certain embodiments utilize a combination comprising a thiol and an amine that together reduce and complex the elemental selenium to form a highly reactive selenium precursor at room temperature. The same combination of thiol and amine acts as the reaction solvent, stabilizing ligand, and sulfur source in the synthesis of quantum dot cores. A non-injection approach may also be used. The optical properties of the quantum dots synthesized by this new approach can be finely tuned for a variety of applications by controlling size and/or composition of size and composition. Further, using the same approach, a shell can be grown around a quantum dot core that improves stability, luminescence efficiency, and may reduce toxicity.

  4. Transport in quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deus, Fernanda; Continetino, Mucio

    2011-01-01

    Full text. In this work we study the time dependent transport in interacting quantum dot. This is a zero-dimensional nano structure system which has quantized electronic states. In our purpose, we are interested in studying such system in a Coulomb blockade regime where a mean-field treatment of the electronic correlations are appropriate. The quantum dot is described by an Anderson type of Hamiltonian where the hybridization term arises from the contact with the leads. We consider a time dependence of both the energy of the localized state in the quantum dot and of the hybridization-like term. These time dependent parameters, under certain conditions, induce a current in the quantum dot even in the absence of difference on the chemical potential of the leads. The approach to this non-equilibrium problem requires the use of a Keldysh formalism. We calculate the non- equilibrium Green's functions and obtain results for the average (equilibrium term) and the non-equilibrium values of the electronic occupation number in the dot. we consider the possibility of a magnetic solution, with different values for the average up and down spins in the quantum dot. Our results allow to obtain, for instance, the tunneling current through the dot. The magnetic nature of the dot, for a certain range of parameters should give rise also to an induced spin current through the dot

  5. Green wet chemical route to synthesize capped CdSe quantum dots

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    In the present work, we report green synthesis of tartaric acid (TA) and triethanolamine (TEA) capped ... CdSe quantum dots; chemical bath deposition; capping; green chemistry; nanomaterials. 1. .... at high concentration of nanoparticles.

  6. Quantum Dots: Theory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vukmirovic, Nenad; Wang, Lin-Wang

    2009-11-10

    This review covers the description of the methodologies typically used for the calculation of the electronic structure of self-assembled and colloidal quantum dots. These are illustrated by the results of their application to a selected set of physical effects in quantum dots.

  7. Stark shifting two-electron quantum dot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dineykhan, M.; Zhaugasheva, S.A.; Duysebaeva, K.S.

    2003-01-01

    Advances in modern technology make it possible to create semiconducting nano-structures (quantum dot) in which a finite number of electrons are 'captured' in a bounded volume. A quantum dot is associated with a quantum well formed at the interface, between two finite-size semiconductors owing to different positions of the forbidden gaps on the energy scale in these semiconductors. The possibility of monitoring and controlling the properties of quantum dots attracts considerable attention to these objects, as a new elemental basis for future generations of computers. The quantum-mechanical effects and image potential play a significant role in the description of the formation mechanism quantum dot, and determined the confinement potential in a two-electron quantum dot only for the spherical symmetric case. In the present talk, we considered the formation dynamics of two-electron quantum dot with violation of spherical symmetry. So, we have standard Stark potential. The energy spectrum two-electron quantum dot were calculated. Usually Stark interactions determined the tunneling phenomena between quantum dots

  8. Solar Cells Based on Inks of n-Type Colloidal Quantum Dots

    KAUST Repository

    Ning, Zhijun; Dong, Haopeng; Zhang, Qiong; Voznyy, Oleksandr; Sargent, Edward H.

    2014-01-01

    © 2014 American Chemical Society. New inorganic ligands including halide anions have significantly accelerated progress in colloidal quantum dot (CQD) photovoltaics in recent years. All such device reports to date have relied on halide treatment during solid-state ligand exchanges or on co-treatment of long-aliphatic-ligand-capped nanoparticles in the solution phase. Here we report solar cells based on a colloidal quantum dot ink that is capped using halide-based ligands alone. By judicious choice of solvents and ligands, we developed a CQD ink from which a homogeneous and thick colloidal quantum dot solid is applied in a single step. The resultant films display an n-type character, making it suitable as a key component in a solar-converting device. We demonstrate two types of quantum junction devices that exploit these iodide-ligand-based inks. We achieve solar power conversion efficiencies of 6% using this class of colloids.

  9. Solar Cells Based on Inks of n-Type Colloidal Quantum Dots

    KAUST Repository

    Ning, Zhijun

    2014-10-28

    © 2014 American Chemical Society. New inorganic ligands including halide anions have significantly accelerated progress in colloidal quantum dot (CQD) photovoltaics in recent years. All such device reports to date have relied on halide treatment during solid-state ligand exchanges or on co-treatment of long-aliphatic-ligand-capped nanoparticles in the solution phase. Here we report solar cells based on a colloidal quantum dot ink that is capped using halide-based ligands alone. By judicious choice of solvents and ligands, we developed a CQD ink from which a homogeneous and thick colloidal quantum dot solid is applied in a single step. The resultant films display an n-type character, making it suitable as a key component in a solar-converting device. We demonstrate two types of quantum junction devices that exploit these iodide-ligand-based inks. We achieve solar power conversion efficiencies of 6% using this class of colloids.

  10. Multi-Excitonic Quantum Dot Molecules

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheibner, M.; Stinaff, E. A.; Doty, M. F.; Ware, M. E.; Bracker, A. S.; Gammon, D.; Ponomarev, I. V.; Reinecke, T. L.; Korenev, V. L.

    2006-03-01

    With the ability to create coupled pairs of quantum dots, the next step towards the realization of semiconductor based quantum information processing devices can be taken. However, so far little knowledge has been gained on these artificial molecules. Our photoluminescence experiments on single InAs/GaAs quantum dot molecules provide the systematics of coupled quantum dots by delineating the spectroscopic features of several key charge configurations in such quantum systems, including X, X^+,X^2+, XX, XX^+ (with X being the neutral exciton). We extract general rules which determine the formation of molecular states of coupled quantum dots. These include the fact that quantum dot molecules provide the possibility to realize various spin configurations and to switch the electron hole exchange interaction on and off by shifting charges inside the molecule. This knowledge will be valuable in developing implementations for quantum information processing.

  11. Spectroscopy characterization and quantum yield determination of quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ortiz, S N Contreras; Ospino, E Mejía; Cabanzo, R

    2016-01-01

    In this paper we show the characterization of two kinds of quantum dots: hydrophilic and hydrophobic, with core and core/shell respectively, using spectroscopy techniques such as UV-Vis, fluorescence and Raman. We determined the quantum yield in the quantum dots using the quinine sulphate as standard. This salt is commonly used because of its quantum yield (56%) and stability. For the CdTe excitation, we used a wavelength of 549nm and for the CdSe/ZnS excitation a wavelength of 527nm. The results show that CdSe/ZnS (49%) has better fluorescence, better quantum dots, and confirm the fluorescence result. The quantum dots have shown a good fluorescence performance, so this property will be used to replace dyes, with the advantage that quantum dots are less toxic than some dyes like the rhodamine. In addition, in this work we show different techniques to find the quantum dots emission: fluorescence spectrum, synchronous spectrum and Raman spectrum. (paper)

  12. Stability and toxicity of ZnO quantum dots: Interplay between nanoparticles and bacteria

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bellanger, Xavier, E-mail: xavier.bellanger@univ-lorraine.fr [Université de Lorraine and CNRS, Laboratoire de Chimie Physique et Microbiologie pour l’Environnement (LCPME), UMR 7564, 15 Avenue du Charmois, 54500 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy (France); Billard, Patrick, E-mail: patrick.billard@univ-lorraine.fr [Université de Lorraine and CNRS, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnements Continentaux (LIEC), UMR 7360, Boulevard des Aiguillettes, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, BP 70239, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy (France); Schneider, Raphaël, E-mail: raphael.schneider@univ-lorraine.fr [Université de Lorraine and CNRS, Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés (LRGP), UMR 7274, 1 rue Grandville, BP 20451, 54001 Nancy Cedex (France); Balan, Lavinia, E-mail: lavinia.balan@uha.fr [Institut de Science des Matériaux de Mulhouse (IS2M), UMR 7361, CNRS, 15 rue Jean Starcky, 68093 Mulhouse (France); Merlin, Christophe, E-mail: christophe.merlin@univ-lorraine.fr [Université de Lorraine and CNRS, Laboratoire de Chimie Physique et Microbiologie pour l’Environnement (LCPME), UMR 7564, 15 Avenue du Charmois, 54500 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy (France)

    2015-02-11

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Dilution of aminosilane-capped ZnO QDs dramatically increases their dissolution. • Bacteria limit Zn{sup 2+} leakage from ZnO QDs in a physiological-dependent process. • Implementation of biosensors for assessing free metal promotes QDs instability. • Dialysis combined to ICP allows studying QDs stability without prior dilution. - Abstract: The toxicity of quantum dots (QDs) has been commonly attributed to the release of metal ions from the core as well as to the production of reactive oxygen species. However, the information related to the stability of the nanoparticles are relatively scarce although this parameter may strongly influence their toxicity. The stability of aminosilane-capped ZnO QDs, here used as model nanoparticles, was investigated by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) and whole cell biosensors using a dialysis setup to separate the QDs from the leaked Zn{sup 2+} ions. The integrity of the ZnO QDs appeared strongly affected by their dilution in aqueous medium, whereas the nanoparticles were slightly stabilized by bacteria. Our results demonstrate some inadequacy between the implementation and use of whole cell biosensors, and the monitoring of metal release from QDs.

  13. Use of titanium dioxide nanoparticles biosynthesized by Bacillus mycoides in quantum dot sensitized solar cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ordenes-Aenishanslins, Nicolás Alexis; Saona, Luis Alberto; Durán-Toro, Vicente María; Monrás, Juan Pablo; Bravo, Denisse Margarita; Pérez-Donoso, José Manuel

    2014-07-16

    One of the major challenges of nanotechnology during the last decade has been the development of new procedures to synthesize nanoparticles. In this context, biosynthetic methods have taken hold since they are simple, safe and eco-friendly. In this study, we report the biosynthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles by an environmental isolate of Bacillus mycoides, a poorly described Gram-positive bacterium able to form colonies with novel morphologies. This isolate was able to produce TiO2 nanoparticles at 37 ° C in the presence of titanyl hydroxide. Biosynthesized nanoparticles have anatase polymorphic structure, spherical morphology, polydisperse size (40-60 nm) and an organic shell as determined by UV-vis spectroscopy, TEM, DLS and FTIR, respectively. Also, conversely to chemically produced nanoparticles, biosynthesized TiO2 do not display phototoxicity. In order to design less expensive and greener solar cells, biosynthesized nanoparticles were evaluated in Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells (QDSSCs) and compared with chemically produced TiO2 nanoparticles. Solar cell parameters such as short circuit current density (ISC) and open circuit voltage (VOC) revealed that biosynthesized TiO2 nanoparticles can mobilize electrons in QDSSCs similarly than chemically produced TiO2. Our results indicate that bacterial extracellular production of TiO2 nanoparticles at low temperatures represents a novel alternative for the construction of green solar cells.

  14. Nanodiamond-based nanostructures for coupling nitrogen-vacancy centres to metal nanoparticles and semiconductor quantum dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Jianxiao; Steinsultz, Nat; Ouyang, Min

    2016-06-08

    The ability to control the interaction between nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond and photonic and/or broadband plasmonic nanostructures is crucial for the development of solid-state quantum devices with optimum performance. However, existing methods typically employ top-down fabrication, which restrict scalable and feasible manipulation of nitrogen-vacancy centres. Here, we develop a general bottom-up approach to fabricate an emerging class of freestanding nanodiamond-based hybrid nanostructures with external functional units of either plasmonic nanoparticles or excitonic quantum dots. Precise control of the structural parameters (including size, composition, coverage and spacing of the external functional units) is achieved, representing a pre-requisite for exploring the underlying physics. Fine tuning of the emission characteristics through structural regulation is demonstrated by performing single-particle optical studies. This study opens a rich toolbox to tailor properties of quantum emitters, which can facilitate design guidelines for devices based on nitrogen-vacancy centres that use these freestanding hybrid nanostructures as building blocks.

  15. Application of zinc oxide quantum dots in food safety

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zinc oxide quantum dots (ZnO QDs) are nanoparticles of purified powdered ZnO. The ZnO QDs were directly added into liquid foods or coated on the surface of glass jars using polylactic acid (PLA) as a carrier. The antimicrobial activities of ZnO QDs against Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Enteriti...

  16. An improved pyrolysis route to synthesize carbon-coated CdS quantum dots with fluorescence enhancement effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Kejie; Liu Xiaoheng

    2011-01-01

    Well-dispersed carbon-coated CdS (CdS-C) quantum dots were successfully prepared via the improved pyrolysis of bis(1-dodecanethiol)-cadmium(II) under nitrogen atmosphere. This simple method effectively solved the sintered problem resulted from conventional pyrolysis process. The experimental results indicated that most of the as-prepared nanoparticles displayed well-defined core-shell structures. The CdS cores with diameter of ∼5 nm exhibited hexagonal crystal phase, the carbon shells with thickness of ∼2 nm acted as a good dispersion medium to prevent CdS particles from aggregation, and together with CdS effectively formed a monodisperse CdS-Carbon nanocomposite. This composite presented a remarkable fluorescence enhancement effect, which indicated that the prepared nanoparticles might be a promising photoresponsive material or biosensor. This improved pyrolysis method might also offer a facile way to prepare other carbon-coated semiconductor nanostructures. - Graphical abstract: We demonstrated a facile approach to synthesize well-dispersed carbon-coated CdS quantum dots. The as-prepared nanoparticles presented remarkable fluorescence enhancement effect. Highlights: → Carbon-coated CdS quantum dots were synthesized by an one-step pyrolysis method. → Well-dispersed CdS-carbon nanoparticles were obtained by an acid treatment process. → As-prepared nanoparticles presented remarkable fluorescence enhancement effect.

  17. Ferritin-Templated Quantum-Dots for Quantum Logic Gates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Sang H.; Kim, Jae-Woo; Chu, Sang-Hyon; Park, Yeonjoon; King, Glen C.; Lillehei, Peter T.; Kim, Seon-Jeong; Elliott, James R.

    2005-01-01

    Quantum logic gates (QLGs) or other logic systems are based on quantum-dots (QD) with a stringent requirement of size uniformity. The QD are widely known building units for QLGs. The size control of QD is a critical issue in quantum-dot fabrication. The work presented here offers a new method to develop quantum-dots using a bio-template, called ferritin, that ensures QD production in uniform size of nano-scale proportion. The bio-template for uniform yield of QD is based on a ferritin protein that allows reconstitution of core material through the reduction and chelation processes. One of the biggest challenges for developing QLG is the requirement of ordered and uniform size of QD for arrays on a substrate with nanometer precision. The QD development by bio-template includes the electrochemical/chemical reconsitution of ferritins with different core materials, such as iron, cobalt, manganese, platinum, and nickel. The other bio-template method used in our laboratory is dendrimers, precisely defined chemical structures. With ferritin-templated QD, we fabricated the heptagonshaped patterned array via direct nano manipulation of the ferritin molecules with a tip of atomic force microscope (AFM). We also designed various nanofabrication methods of QD arrays using a wide range manipulation techniques. The precise control of the ferritin-templated QD for a patterned arrangement are offered by various methods, such as a site-specific immobilization of thiolated ferritins through local oxidation using the AFM tip, ferritin arrays induced by gold nanoparticle manipulation, thiolated ferritin positioning by shaving method, etc. In the signal measurements, the current-voltage curve is obtained by measuring the current through the ferritin, between the tip and the substrate for potential sweeping or at constant potential. The measured resistance near zero bias was 1.8 teraohm for single holoferritin and 5.7 teraohm for single apoferritin, respectively.

  18. Enhanced biocompatibility of ZnS:Mn quantum dots encapsulated with Aloe vera extract for therapeutic applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anilkumar, M; Sneha Saj, A; Bindu, K R; Anila, E I

    2016-01-01

    Toxicity of nanoparticles remains to be a major issue in their application to the biomedical field. Aloe vera (AV) is one of the most widely exploited medicinal plants that have a multitude of amazing properties in the field of medicine. Methanol extract of Aloe vera can be used as a novel stabilising agent for quantum dots to reduce toxicity. We report the synthesis, structural characterization, antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity studies of ZnS:Mn quantum dots synthesized by the colloidal precipitation method, using methanol extract of Aloe vera (AVME) as the capping agent. The ZnS:Mn quantum dots capped with AVME exhibit superior performances in biocompatibility and antibacterial activity compared with ZnS:Mn quantum dots without encapsulation. (paper)

  19. Hydrogenic impurity in double quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, X.F.

    2007-01-01

    The ground state binding energy and the average interparticle distances for a hydrogenic impurity in double quantum dots with Gaussian confinement potential are studied by the variational method. The probability density of the electron is calculated, too. The dependence of the binding energy on the impurity position is investigated for GaAs quantum dots. The result shows that the binding energy has a minimum as a function of the distance between the two quantum dots when the impurity is located at the center of one quantum dot or at the center of the edge of one quantum dot. When the impurity is located at the center of the two dots, the binding energy decreases monotonically

  20. Quantum dots: Rethinking the electronics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bishnoi, Dimple [Department of Physics, S. S. Jain Subodh PG College, Jaipur, Rajasthan Pin-302004 (India)

    2016-05-06

    In this paper, we demonstrate theoretically that the Quantum dots are quite interesting for the electronics industry. Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are nanometer-scale crystals, which have unique photo physical, quantum electrical properties, size-dependent optical properties, There small size means that electrons do not have to travel as far as with larger particles, thus electronic devices can operate faster. Cheaper than modern commercial solar cells while making use of a wider variety of photon energies, including “waste heat” from the sun’s energy. Quantum dots can be used in tandem cells, which are multi junction photovoltaic cells or in the intermediate band setup. PbSe (lead selenide) is commonly used in quantum dot solar cells.

  1. Spin storage in quantum dot ensembles and single quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heiss, Dominik

    2009-01-01

    This thesis deals with the investigation of spin relaxation of electrons and holes in small ensembles of self-assembled quantum dots using optical techniques. Furthermore, a method to detect the spin orientation in a single quantum dot was developed in the framework of this thesis. A spin storage device was used to optically generate oriented electron spins in small frequency selected quantum dot ensembles using circularly polarized optical excitation. The spin orientation can be determined by the polarization of the time delayed electroluminescence signal generated by the device after a continuously variable storage time. The degree of spin polarized initialization was found to be limited to 0.6 at high magnetic fields, where anisotropic effects are compensated. The spin relaxation was directly measured as a function of magnetic field, lattice temperature and s-shell transition energy of the quantum dot by varying the spin storage time up to 30 ms. Very long spin lifetimes are obtained with a lower limit of T 1 =20 ms at B=4 T and T=1 K. A strong magnetic field dependence T 1 ∝B -5 has been observed for low temperatures of T=1 K which weakens as the temperature is increased. In addition, the temperature dependence has been determined with T 1 ∝T -1 . The characteristic dependencies on magnetic field and temperature lead to the identification of the spin relaxation mechanism, which is governed by spin-orbit coupling and mediated by single phonon scattering. This finding is qualitatively supported by the energy dependent measurements. The investigations were extended to a modified device design that enabled studying the spin relaxation dynamics of heavy holes in self-assembled quantum dots. The measurements show a polarization memory effect for holes with up to 0.1 degree of polarization. Furthermore, investigations of the time dynamics of the hole spin relaxation reveal surprisingly long lifetimes T 1 h in the microsecond range, therefore, comparable with

  2. Spin storage in quantum dot ensembles and single quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heiss, Dominik

    2009-10-15

    This thesis deals with the investigation of spin relaxation of electrons and holes in small ensembles of self-assembled quantum dots using optical techniques. Furthermore, a method to detect the spin orientation in a single quantum dot was developed in the framework of this thesis. A spin storage device was used to optically generate oriented electron spins in small frequency selected quantum dot ensembles using circularly polarized optical excitation. The spin orientation can be determined by the polarization of the time delayed electroluminescence signal generated by the device after a continuously variable storage time. The degree of spin polarized initialization was found to be limited to 0.6 at high magnetic fields, where anisotropic effects are compensated. The spin relaxation was directly measured as a function of magnetic field, lattice temperature and s-shell transition energy of the quantum dot by varying the spin storage time up to 30 ms. Very long spin lifetimes are obtained with a lower limit of T{sub 1}=20 ms at B=4 T and T=1 K. A strong magnetic field dependence T{sub 1}{proportional_to}B{sup -5} has been observed for low temperatures of T=1 K which weakens as the temperature is increased. In addition, the temperature dependence has been determined with T{sub 1}{proportional_to}T{sup -1}. The characteristic dependencies on magnetic field and temperature lead to the identification of the spin relaxation mechanism, which is governed by spin-orbit coupling and mediated by single phonon scattering. This finding is qualitatively supported by the energy dependent measurements. The investigations were extended to a modified device design that enabled studying the spin relaxation dynamics of heavy holes in self-assembled quantum dots. The measurements show a polarization memory effect for holes with up to 0.1 degree of polarization. Furthermore, investigations of the time dynamics of the hole spin relaxation reveal surprisingly long lifetimes T{sub 1}{sup h

  3. Electronic transport through a quantum dot chain with strong dot-lead coupling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Yu; Zheng, Yisong; Gong, Weijiang; Gao, Wenzhu; Lue, Tianquan

    2007-01-01

    By means of the non-equilibrium Green function technique, the electronic transport through an N-quantum-dot chain is theoretically studied. By calculating the linear conductance spectrum and the local density of states in quantum dots, we find the resonant peaks in the spectra coincides with the eigen-energies of the N-quantum-dot chain when the dot-lead coupling is relatively weak. With the increase of the dot-lead coupling, such a correspondence becomes inaccurate. When the dot-lead coupling exceeds twice the interdot coupling, such a mapping collapses completely. The linear conductance turn to reflect the eigen-energies of the (N-2)- or (N-1)-quantum dot chain instead. The two peripheral quantum dots do not manifest themselves in the linear conductance spectrum. More interestingly, with the further increase of the dot-lead coupling, the system behaves just like an (N-2)- or (N-1)-quantum dot chain in weak dot-lead coupling limit, since the resonant peaks becomes narrower with the increase of dot-lead coupling

  4. Modeling Quantum Dot Nanoparticle Fate and Transport in Saturated Porous Media under Varying Flow Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Becker, M. D.; Wang, Y.; Englehart, J.; Pennell, K. D.; Abriola, L. M.

    2010-12-01

    As manufactured nanomaterials become more prevalent in commercial and industrial applications, the development of mathematical models capable of predicting nanomaterial transport and retention in subsurface systems is crucial to assessing their fate and distribution in the environment. A systematic modeling approach based on a modification of clean-bed filtration theory was undertaken to elucidate mechanisms governing the transport and deposition behavior of quantum dots in saturated quartz sand as a function of grain size and flow velocity. The traditional deposition governing equation, which assumes irreversible attachment by a first-order rate (katt), was modified to include a maximum or limiting retention capacity (Smax) and first-order detachment of particles from the solid phase (kdet). Quantum dot mobility experiments were performed in columns packed with three size fractions of Ottawa sand (d50 = 125, 165, and 335 μm) at two different pore-water velocities (0.8 m/d and 7.6 m/d). The CdSe quantum dots in a CdZnS shell and polyacrylic acid coating were negatively charged (zeta potential measured ca. -35 mV) with a hydrodynamic diameter of approximately 30 nm. Fitted values of katt, Smax, and kdet were obtained for each transport and deposition experiment through the implementation of a nonlinear least-squares routine developed to fit the model to experimental breakthrough and retention data via multivariate optimization. Fitted attachment rates and retention capacities increased exponentially with decreasing grain size at both flow rates, while no discernable trend was apparent for the fitted detachment rates. Maximum retention capacity values were plotted against a normalized mass flux expression, which accounts for flow conditions and grain size. A power function fit to the data yielded a dependence that was consistent with a previous study undertaken with fullerene nanoparticles.

  5. Ambient-Processed Colloidal Quantum Dot Solar Cells via Individual Pre-Encapsulation of Nanoparticles

    KAUST Repository

    Debnath, Ratan; Tang, Jiang; Barkhouse, D. Aaron; Wang, Xihua; Pattantyus-Abraham, Andras G.; Brzozowski, Lukasz; Levina, Larissa; Sargent, Edward H.

    2010-01-01

    We report colloidal quantum dot solar cells fabricated under ambient atmosphere with an active area of 2.9 mm2 that exhibit 3.6% solar power conversion efficiency. The devices are based on PbS tuned via the quantum size effect to have a first excitonic peak at 950 nm. Because the formation of native oxides and sulfates on PbS leads to p-type doping and deep trap formation and because such dopants and traps dramatically influence device performance, prior reports of colloidal quantum dot solar cells have insisted on processing under an inert atmosphere. Here we report a novel ligand strategy in which we first encapsulate the quantum dots in the solution phase with the aid of a strongly bound N-2,4,6-trimethylphenyl-N-methyldithiocarbamate ligand. This allows us to carry out film formation and all subsequent device fabrication under an air atmosphere. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

  6. Ambient-Processed Colloidal Quantum Dot Solar Cells via Individual Pre-Encapsulation of Nanoparticles

    KAUST Repository

    Debnath, Ratan

    2010-05-05

    We report colloidal quantum dot solar cells fabricated under ambient atmosphere with an active area of 2.9 mm2 that exhibit 3.6% solar power conversion efficiency. The devices are based on PbS tuned via the quantum size effect to have a first excitonic peak at 950 nm. Because the formation of native oxides and sulfates on PbS leads to p-type doping and deep trap formation and because such dopants and traps dramatically influence device performance, prior reports of colloidal quantum dot solar cells have insisted on processing under an inert atmosphere. Here we report a novel ligand strategy in which we first encapsulate the quantum dots in the solution phase with the aid of a strongly bound N-2,4,6-trimethylphenyl-N-methyldithiocarbamate ligand. This allows us to carry out film formation and all subsequent device fabrication under an air atmosphere. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

  7. Phonon impact on optical control schemes of quantum dots: Role of quantum dot geometry and symmetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lüker, S.; Kuhn, T.; Reiter, D. E.

    2017-12-01

    Phonons strongly influence the optical control of semiconductor quantum dots. When modeling the electron-phonon interaction in several theoretical approaches, the quantum dot geometry is approximated by a spherical structure, though typical self-assembled quantum dots are strongly lens-shaped. By explicitly comparing simulations of a spherical and a lens-shaped dot using a well-established correlation expansion approach, we show that, indeed, lens-shaped dots can be exactly mapped to a spherical geometry when studying the phonon influence on the electronic system. We also give a recipe to reproduce spectral densities from more involved dots by rather simple spherical models. On the other hand, breaking the spherical symmetry has a pronounced impact on the spatiotemporal properties of the phonon dynamics. As an example we show that for a lens-shaped quantum dot, the phonon emission is strongly concentrated along the direction of the smallest axis of the dot, which is important for the use of phonons for the communication between different dots.

  8. Magnon-driven quantum dot refrigerators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Yuan; Huang, Chuankun; Liao, Tianjun; Chen, Jincan, E-mail: jcchen@xmu.edu.cn

    2015-12-18

    Highlights: • A three-terminal quantum dot refrigerator is proposed. • The effects of magnetic field, applied voltage, and polarization are considered. • The region that the system can work as a refrigerator is determined. • Two different magnon-driven quantum dot refrigerators are compared. - Abstract: A new model of refrigerator consisting of a spin-splitting quantum dot coupled with two ferromagnetic reservoirs and a ferromagnetic insulator is proposed. The rate equation is used to calculate the occupation probabilities of the quantum dot. The expressions of the electron and magnon currents are obtained. The region that the system can work in as a refrigerator is determined. The cooling power and coefficient of performance (COP) of the refrigerator are derived. The influences of the magnetic field, applied voltage, and polarization of two leads on the performance are discussed. The performances of two different magnon-driven quantum dot refrigerators are compared.

  9. Imaging and Manipulating Energy Transfer Among Quantum Dots at Individual Dot Resolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Duc; Nguyen, Huy A; Lyding, Joseph W; Gruebele, Martin

    2017-06-27

    Many processes of interest in quantum dots involve charge or energy transfer from one dot to another. Energy transfer in films of quantum dots as well as between linked quantum dots has been demonstrated by luminescence shift, and the ultrafast time-dependence of energy transfer processes has been resolved. Bandgap variation among dots (energy disorder) and dot separation are known to play an important role in how energy diffuses. Thus, it would be very useful if energy transfer could be visualized directly on a dot-by-dot basis among small clusters or within films of quantum dots. To that effect, we report single molecule optical absorption detected by scanning tunneling microscopy (SMA-STM) to image energy pooling from donor into acceptor dots on a dot-by-dot basis. We show that we can manipulate groups of quantum dots by pruning away the dominant acceptor dot, and switching the energy transfer path to a different acceptor dot. Our experimental data agrees well with a simple Monte Carlo lattice model of energy transfer, similar to models in the literature, in which excitation energy is transferred preferentially from dots with a larger bandgap to dots with a smaller bandgap.

  10. Semiconductor quantum-dot lasers and amplifiers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hvam, Jørn Märcher; Borri, Paola; Ledentsov, N. N.

    2002-01-01

    -power surface emitting VCSELs. We investigated the ultrafast dynamics of quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers. The dephasing time at room temperature of the ground-state transition in semiconductor quantum dots is around 250 fs in an unbiased amplifier, decreasing to below 50 fs when the amplifier...... is biased to positive net gain. We have further measured gain recovery times in quantum dot amplifiers that are significantly lower than in bulk and quantum-well semiconductor optical amplifiers. This is promising for future demonstration of quantum dot devices with high modulation bandwidth...

  11. Quantum optics with quantum dots in photonic nanowires

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    We will review recent studies performed on InAs quantum dots embedded in GaAs photonic wires, which highlight the strong interest of the photonic wire geometry for quantum optics experiments and quantum optoelectronic devices.......We will review recent studies performed on InAs quantum dots embedded in GaAs photonic wires, which highlight the strong interest of the photonic wire geometry for quantum optics experiments and quantum optoelectronic devices....

  12. Biocompatible Quantum Dots for Biological Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenthal, Sandra J.; Chang, Jerry C.; Kovtun, Oleg; McBride, James R.; Tomlinson, Ian D.

    2011-01-01

    Semiconductor quantum dots are quickly becoming a critical diagnostic tool for discerning cellular function at the molecular level. Their high brightness, long-lasting, sizetunable, and narrow luminescence set them apart from conventional fluorescence dyes. Quantum dots are being developed for a variety of biologically oriented applications, including fluorescent assays for drug discovery, disease detection, single protein tracking, and intracellular reporting. This review introduces the science behind quantum dots and describes how they are made biologically compatible. Several applications are also included, illustrating strategies toward target specificity, and are followed by a discussion on the limitations of quantum dot approaches. The article is concluded with a look at the future direction of quantum dots. PMID:21276935

  13. Selective contacts drive charge extraction in quantum dot solids via asymmetry in carrier transfer kinetics

    KAUST Repository

    Mora-Sero, Ivan; Bertoluzzi, Luca; Gonzalez-Pedro, Victoria; Gimenez, Sixto; Fabregat-Santiago, Francisco; Kemp, Kyle W.; Sargent, Edward H.; Bisquert, Juan

    2013-01-01

    Colloidal quantum dot solar cells achieve spectrally selective optical absorption in a thin layer of solution-processed, size-effect tuned, nanoparticles. The best devices built to date have relied heavily on drift-based transport due to the action of an electric field in a depletion region that extends throughout the thickness of the quantum dot layer. Here we study for the first time the behaviour of the best-performing class of colloidal quantum dot films in the absence of an electric field, by screening using an electrolyte. We find that the action of selective contacts on photovoltage sign and amplitude can be retained, implying that the contacts operate by kinetic preferences of charge transfer for either electrons or holes. We develop a theoretical model to explain these experimental findings. The work is the first to present a switch in the photovoltage in colloidal quantum dot solar cells by purposefully formed selective contacts, opening the way to new strategies in the engineering of colloidal quantum dot solar cells. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

  14. Selective contacts drive charge extraction in quantum dot solids via asymmetry in carrier transfer kinetics

    KAUST Repository

    Mora-Sero, Ivan

    2013-08-12

    Colloidal quantum dot solar cells achieve spectrally selective optical absorption in a thin layer of solution-processed, size-effect tuned, nanoparticles. The best devices built to date have relied heavily on drift-based transport due to the action of an electric field in a depletion region that extends throughout the thickness of the quantum dot layer. Here we study for the first time the behaviour of the best-performing class of colloidal quantum dot films in the absence of an electric field, by screening using an electrolyte. We find that the action of selective contacts on photovoltage sign and amplitude can be retained, implying that the contacts operate by kinetic preferences of charge transfer for either electrons or holes. We develop a theoretical model to explain these experimental findings. The work is the first to present a switch in the photovoltage in colloidal quantum dot solar cells by purposefully formed selective contacts, opening the way to new strategies in the engineering of colloidal quantum dot solar cells. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

  15. Quantum size effect and thermal stability of carbon-nanotube-based quantum dot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, N.Y.; Peng, J.; Liang, S.D.; Li, Z.B.; Xu, N.S.

    2004-01-01

    Full text: Based on semi-experience quantum chemical calculation, we have investigated the quantum size effect and thermal stability of open-end carbon nanotube (5, 5) quantum dots of 20 to 400 atoms. It was found that there is a gap in the energy band of all carbon nanotube (5, 5) quantum dots although a (5, 5) carbon nanotube is metallic. The energy gap of quantum dots is much dependent of the number of atoms in a dot, as a result of the quantization rules imposed by the finite scales in both radial and axial directions of a carbon nanotube quantum dot. Also, the heat of formation of carbon nanotube quantum dots is dependent of the size of a quantum dot. (author)

  16. Au Nanoparticles as Interfacial Layer for CdS Quantum Dot-sensitized Solar Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhu Guang

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Quantum dot-sensitized solar cells based on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO/Au/TiO2/CdS photoanode and polysulfide electrolyte are fabricated. Au nanoparticles (NPs as interfacial layer between FTO and TiO2 layer are dip-coated on FTO surface. The structure, morphology and impedance of the photoanodes and the photovoltaic performance of the cells are investigated. A power conversion efficiency of 1.62% has been obtained for FTO/Au/TiO2/CdS cell, which is about 88% higher than that for FTO/TiO2/CdS cell (0.86%. The easier transport of excited electron and the suppression of charge recombination in the photoanode due to the introduction of Au NP layer should be responsible for the performance enhancement of the cell.

  17. Electrophoretic properties of BSA-coated quantum dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bücking, Wendelin; Massadeh, Salam; Merkulov, Alexei; Xu, Shu; Nann, Thomas

    2010-02-01

    Low toxic InP/ZnS quantum dots (QDs), ZnS:Mn(2+)/ZnS nanocrystals and CdSe/ZnS nanoparticles were rendered water-dispersible by different ligand-exchange methods. Eventually, they were coated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model protein. All particles were characterised by isotachophoresis (ITP), laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) and agarose gel electrophoresis. It was found that the electrophoretic mobility and colloidal stability of ZnS:Mn(2+)/ZnS and CdSe/ZnS nanoparticles, which bore short-chain surface ligands, was primarily governed by charges on the nanoparticles, whereas InP/ZnS nanocrystals were not charged per se. BSA-coated nanoparticles showed lower electrophoretic mobility, which was attributed to their larger size and smaller overall charge. However, these particles were colloidally stable. This stability was probably caused by steric stabilisation of the BSA coating.

  18. Determination of gold nanoparticles in environmental water samples by second-order optical scattering using dithiotreitol-functionalized CdS quantum dots after cloud point extraction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mandyla, Spyridoula P.; Tsogas, George Z.; Vlessidis, Athanasios G.; Giokas, Dimosthenis L., E-mail: dgiokas@cc.uoi.gr

    2017-02-05

    Highlights: • A new method has been developed to determine gold nanoparticles in water samples. • Extraction was achieved by cloud point extraction. • A nano-hybrid assembly between AuNPs and dithiol-coated quantum dots was formulated. • Detection was accomplished at pico-molar levels by second-order light scattering. • The method was selective against ionic gold and other nanoparticle species. - Abstract: This work presents a new method for the sensitive and selective determination of gold nanoparticles in water samples. The method combines a sample preparation and enrichment step based on cloud point extraction with a new detection motif that relies on the optical incoherent light scattering of a nano-hybrid assembly that is formed by hydrogen bond interactions between gold nanoparticles and dithiotreitol-functionalized CdS quantum dots. The experimental parameters affecting the extraction and detection of gold nanoparticles were optimized and evaluated to the analysis of gold nanoparticles of variable size and surface coating. The selectivity of the method against gold ions and other nanoparticle species was also evaluated under different conditions reminiscent to those usually found in natural water samples. The developed method was applied to the analysis of gold nanoparticles in natural waters and wastewater with satisfactory results in terms of sensitivity (detection limit at the low pmol L{sup −1} levels), recoveries (>80%) and reproducibility (<9%). Compared to other methods employing molecular spectrometry for metal nanoparticle analysis, the developed method offers improved sensitivity and it is easy-to-operate thus providing an additional tool for the monitoring and the assessment of nanoparticles toxicity and hazards in the environment.

  19. Determination of gold nanoparticles in environmental water samples by second-order optical scattering using dithiotreitol-functionalized CdS quantum dots after cloud point extraction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mandyla, Spyridoula P.; Tsogas, George Z.; Vlessidis, Athanasios G.; Giokas, Dimosthenis L.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • A new method has been developed to determine gold nanoparticles in water samples. • Extraction was achieved by cloud point extraction. • A nano-hybrid assembly between AuNPs and dithiol-coated quantum dots was formulated. • Detection was accomplished at pico-molar levels by second-order light scattering. • The method was selective against ionic gold and other nanoparticle species. - Abstract: This work presents a new method for the sensitive and selective determination of gold nanoparticles in water samples. The method combines a sample preparation and enrichment step based on cloud point extraction with a new detection motif that relies on the optical incoherent light scattering of a nano-hybrid assembly that is formed by hydrogen bond interactions between gold nanoparticles and dithiotreitol-functionalized CdS quantum dots. The experimental parameters affecting the extraction and detection of gold nanoparticles were optimized and evaluated to the analysis of gold nanoparticles of variable size and surface coating. The selectivity of the method against gold ions and other nanoparticle species was also evaluated under different conditions reminiscent to those usually found in natural water samples. The developed method was applied to the analysis of gold nanoparticles in natural waters and wastewater with satisfactory results in terms of sensitivity (detection limit at the low pmol L −1 levels), recoveries (>80%) and reproducibility (<9%). Compared to other methods employing molecular spectrometry for metal nanoparticle analysis, the developed method offers improved sensitivity and it is easy-to-operate thus providing an additional tool for the monitoring and the assessment of nanoparticles toxicity and hazards in the environment.

  20. Highly crystalline carbon dots from fresh tomato: UV emission and quantum confinement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Weijian; Li, Chun; Sun, Xiaobo; Pan, Wei; Yu, Guifeng; Wang, Jinping

    2017-12-01

    In this article, fresh tomatoes are explored as a low-cost source to prepare high-performance carbon dots by using microwave-assisted pyrolysis. Given that amino groups might act as nucleophiles for cleaving covalent bridging ester or ether in the crosslinked macromolecules in the biomass bulk, ethylenediamine (EDA) and urea with amino groups were applied as nucleophiles to modulate the chemical composites of the carbon nanoparticles in order to tune their fluorescence emission and enhance their quantum yields. Very interestingly, the carbon dots synthesized in the presence of urea had a highly crystalline nature, a low-degree amorphous surface and were smaller than 5 nm. Moreover, the doped N contributed to the formation of a cyclic form of core that resulted in a strong electron-withdrawing ability within the conjugated C plane. Therefore, this type of carbon dot exhibited marked quantum confinement, with the maximum fluorescence peak located in the UV region. Carbon nanoparticles greater than 20 nm in size, prepared using pristine fresh tomato and in the presence of EDA, emitted surface state controlled fluorescence. Additionally, carbon nanoparticles synthesized using fresh tomato pulp in the presence of EDA and urea were explored for bioimaging of plant pathogenic fungi and the detection of vanillin.

  1. Large quantum dots with small oscillator strength

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stobbe, Søren; Schlereth, T.W.; Höfling, S.

    2010-01-01

    We have measured the oscillator strength and quantum efficiency of excitons confined in large InGaAs quantum dots by recording the spontaneous emission decay rate while systematically varying the distance between the quantum dots and a semiconductor-air interface. The size of the quantum dots...... is measured by in-plane transmission electron microscopy and we find average in-plane diameters of 40 nm. We have calculated the oscillator strength of excitons of that size assuming a quantum-dot confinement given by a parabolic in-plane potential and a hard-wall vertical potential and predict a very large...... intermixing inside the quantum dots....

  2. Near-infrared quantum dots for HER2 localization and imaging of cancer cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rizvi, Sarwat B; Rouhi, Sepideh; Taniguchi, Shohei; Yang, Shi Yu; Green, Mark; Keshtgar, Mo; Seifalian, Alexander M

    2014-01-01

    Quantum dots are fluorescent nanoparticles with unique photophysical properties that allow them to be used as diagnostic, therapeutic, and theranostic agents, particularly in medical and surgical oncology. Near-infrared-emitting quantum dots can be visualized in deep tissues because the biological window is transparent to these wavelengths. Their small sizes and free surface reactive groups that can be conjugated to biomolecules make them ideal probes for in vivo cancer localization, targeted chemotherapy, and image-guided cancer surgery. The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 gene (HER2/neu) is overexpressed in 25%-30% of breast cancers. The current methods of detection for HER2 status, including immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization, are used ex vivo and cannot be used in vivo. In this paper, we demonstrate the application of near-infrared-emitting quantum dots for HER2 localization in fixed and live cancer cells as a first step prior to their in vivo application. Near-infrared-emitting quantum dots were characterized and their in vitro toxicity was established using three cancer cell lines, ie, HepG2, SK-BR-3 (HER2-overexpressing), and MCF7 (HER2-underexpressing). Mouse antihuman anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody was conjugated to the near-infrared-emitting quantum dots. In vitro toxicity studies showed biocompatibility of SK-BR-3 and MCF7 cell lines with near-infrared-emitting quantum dots at a concentration of 60 μg/mL after one hour and 24 hours of exposure. Near-infrared-emitting quantum dot antiHER2-antibody bioconjugates successfully localized HER2 receptors on SK-BR-3 cells. Near-infrared-emitting quantum dot bioconjugates can be used for rapid localization of HER2 receptors and can potentially be used for targeted therapy as well as image-guided surgery.

  3. Design of quaternary logic circuit using quantum dot gate-quantum dot channel FET (QDG-QDCFET)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karmakar, Supriya

    2014-10-01

    This paper presents the implementation of quaternary logic circuits based on quantum dot gate-quantum dot channel field effect transistor (QDG-QDCFET). The super lattice structure in the quantum dot channel region of QDG-QDCFET and the electron tunnelling from inversion channel to the quantum dot layer in the gate region of a QDG-QDCFET change the threshold voltage of this device which produces two intermediate states between its ON and OFF states. This property of QDG-QDCFET is used to implement multi-valued logic for future multi-valued logic circuit. This paper presents the design of basic quaternary logic operation such as inverter, AND and OR operation based on QDG-QDCFET.

  4. Upconversion fluorescence tyrosine doped LaF3:Dy quantum dots useful in biolabeling and biotagging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Amit T.; Khandpekar, M. M.

    2018-04-01

    Water soluble hexahedral colloidal quantum dots (QDOTs) of Tyrosine doped LaF3:Dy have been synthesized by wet chemical route. The nanoparticles have been irradiated by microwave during synthesis for drying and also to reduce agglomeration. The coating of the LaF3:Dy nanoparticles by the amino acid tyrosine results in colloidal quantum dots. XRD studies indicates hexagonal lattice and confirms JCPDS data. The average particle size obtained by XRD and SEM are 22.89nm and 25.5nm respectively. The average sizes of nanorods obtained from TEM are 55 nm. The presence of elements has been verified with EDAX and ICP-AES technique. The SAED pattern of the samples shows sharp concentric rings indicating the crystalline nature of the synthesized nanoparticles. The FTIR spectra have been used to study the surface modification of the nanoparticles. The optical studies have been done using UV-visible and PL spectra. The PL spectra showed upconversion nature of the synthesized nanoparticles with sharp emission at 618 nm. The nanoparticles synthesized have potential application as biomaterials in bio imaging and biotagging.

  5. Studies of quantum dots in the quantum Hall regime

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldmann, Eyal

    We present two studies of quantum dots in the quantum Hall regime. In the first study, presented in Chapter 3, we investigate the edge reconstruction phenomenon believed to occur when the quantum dot filling fraction is n≲1 . Our approach involves the examination of large dots (≤40 electrons) using a partial diagonalization technique in which the occupancies of the deep interior orbitals are frozen. To interpret the results of this calculation, we evaluate the overlap between the diagonalized ground state and a set of trial wavefunctions which we call projected necklace (PN) states. A PN state is simply the angular momentum projection of a maximum density droplet surrounded by a ring of localized electrons. Our calculations reveal that PN states have up to 99% overlap with the diagonalized ground states, and are lower in energy than the states identified in Chamon and Wen's study of the edge reconstruction. In the second study, presented in Chapter 4, we investigate quantum dots in the fractional quantum Hall regime using a Hartree formulation of composite fermion theory. We find that under appropriate conditions, the chemical potential of the dots oscillates periodically with B due to the transfer of composite fermions between quasi-Landau bands. This effect is analogous the addition spectrum oscillations which occur in quantum dots in the integer quantum Hall regime. Period f0 oscillations are found in sharply confined dots with filling factors nu = 2/5 and nu = 2/3. Period 3 f0 oscillations are found in a parabolically confined nu = 2/5 dot. More generally, we argue that the oscillation period of dots with band pinning should vary continuously with B, whereas the period of dots without band pinning is f0 .

  6. Distributed quantum information processing via quantum dot spins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jun, Liu; Qiong, Wang; Le-Man, Kuang; Hao-Sheng, Zeng

    2010-01-01

    We propose a scheme to engineer a non-local two-qubit phase gate between two remote quantum-dot spins. Along with one-qubit local operations, one can in principal perform various types of distributed quantum information processing. The scheme employs a photon with linearly polarisation interacting one after the other with two remote quantum-dot spins in cavities. Due to the optical spin selection rule, the photon obtains a Faraday rotation after the interaction process. By measuring the polarisation of the final output photon, a non-local two-qubit phase gate between the two remote quantum-dot spins is constituted. Our scheme may has very important applications in the distributed quantum information processing

  7. Enhanced biocompatibility of ZnS:Mn quantum dots encapsulated with Aloe vera extract for therapeutic applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anilkumar, M.; Bindu, K. R.; Sneha Saj, A.; Anila, E. I.

    2016-08-01

    Toxicity of nanoparticles remains to be a major issue in their application to the biomedical field. Aloe vera (AV) is one of the most widely exploited medicinal plants that have a multitude of amazing properties in the field of medicine. Methanol extract of Aloe vera can be used as a novel stabilising agent for quantum dots to reduce toxicity. We report the synthesis, structural characterization, antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity studies of ZnS:Mn quantum dots synthesized by the colloidal precipitation method, using methanol extract of Aloe vera (AVME) as the capping agent. The ZnS:Mn quantum dots capped with AVME exhibit superior performances in biocompatibility and antibacterial activity compared with ZnS:Mn quantum dots without encapsulation. Project supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

  8. Influence of Quantum Dot Concentration on Carrier Transport in ZnO:TiO2 Nano-Hybrid Photoanodes for Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francis S. Maloney

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Zinc oxide nanowire and titanium dioxide nanoparticle (ZnO:TiO2 NW/NP hybrid films were utilized as the photoanode layer in quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs. CdSe quantum dots (QDs with a ZnS passivation layer were deposited on the ZnO:TiO2 NW/NP layer as a photosensitizer by successive ion layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR. Cells were fabricated using a solid-state polymer electrolyte and intensity-modulated photovoltage and photocurrent spectroscopy (IMVS/PS was carried out to study the electron transport properties of the cell. Increasing the SILAR coating number enhanced the total charge collection efficiency of the cell. The electron transport time constant and diffusion length were found to decrease as more QD layers were added.

  9. Silicon quantum dots: surface matters

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Dohnalová, K.; Gregorkiewicz, T.; Kůsová, Kateřina

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 26, č. 17 (2014), 1-28 ISSN 0953-8984 R&D Projects: GA ČR GPP204/12/P235 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : silicon quantum dots * quantum dot * surface chemistry * quantum confinement Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 2.346, year: 2014

  10. Cadmium sulfide quantum dots induce oxidative stress and behavioral impairments in the marine clam Scrobicularia plana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buffet, Pierre-Emmanuel; Zalouk-Vergnoux, Aurore; Poirier, Laurence; Lopes, Christelle; Risso-de-Faverney, Christine; Guibbolini, Marielle; Gilliland, Douglas; Perrein-Ettajani, Hanane; Valsami-Jones, Eugenia; Mouneyrac, Catherine

    2015-07-01

    Cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dots have a number of current applications in electronics and solar cells and significant future potential in medicine. The aim of the present study was to examine the toxic effects of CdS quantum dots on the marine clam Scrobicularia plana exposed for 14 d to these nanomaterials (10 µg Cd L(-1) ) in natural seawater and to compare them with soluble Cd. Measurement of labile Cd released from CdS quantum dots showed that 52% of CdS quantum dots remained in the nanoparticulate form. Clams accumulated the same levels of Cd regardless of the form in which it was delivered (soluble Cd vs CdS quantum dots). However, significant changes in biochemical responses were observed in clams exposed to CdS quantum dots compared with soluble Cd. Increased activities of catalase and glutathione-S-transferase were significantly higher in clams exposed in seawater to Cd as the nanoparticulate versus the soluble form, suggesting a specific nano effect. The behavior of S. plana in sediment showed impairments of foot movements only in the case of exposure to CdS quantum dots. The results show that oxidative stress and behavior biomarkers are sensitive predictors of CdS quantum dots toxicity in S. plana. Such responses, appearing well before changes might occur at the population level, demonstrate the usefulness of this model species and type of biomarker in the assessment of nanoparticle contamination in estuarine ecosystems. © 2015 SETAC.

  11. Quantum dot transport in soil, plants, and insects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-Salim, Najeh [Industrial Research Ltd, P.O. Box 31310, Lower Hutt 5040 (New Zealand); Barraclough, Emma; Burgess, Elisabeth [New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, Private Bag 92169, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142 (New Zealand); Clothier, Brent, E-mail: brent.clothier@plantandfood.co.nz [New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, Private Bag 11600, Manawatu Mail Centre, Palmerston North 4442 (New Zealand); Deurer, Markus; Green, Steve [New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, Private Bag 11600, Manawatu Mail Centre, Palmerston North 4442 (New Zealand); Malone, Louise [New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd, Private Bag 92169, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142 (New Zealand); Weir, Graham [Industrial Research Ltd, P.O. Box 31310, Lower Hutt 5040 (New Zealand)

    2011-08-01

    Environmental risk assessment of nanomaterials requires information not only on their toxicity to non-target organisms, but also on their potential exposure pathways. Here we report on the transport and fate of quantum dots (QDs) in the total environment: from soils, through their uptake into plants, to their passage through insects following ingestion. Our QDs are nanoparticles with an average particle size of 6.5 nm. Breakthrough curves obtained with CdTe/mercaptopropionic acid QDs applied to columns of top soil from a New Zealand organic apple orchard, a Hastings silt loam, showed there to be preferential flow through the soil's macropores. Yet the effluent recovery of QDs was just 60%, even after several pore volumes, indicating that about 40% of the influent QDs were filtered and retained by the soil column via some unknown exchange/adsorption/sequestration mechanism. Glycine-, mercaptosuccinic acid-, cysteine-, and amine-conjugated CdSe/ZnS QDs were visibly transported to a limited extent in the vasculature of ryegrass (Lolium perenne), onion (Allium cepa) and chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum sp.) plants when cut stems were placed in aqueous QD solutions. However, they were not seen to be taken up at all by rooted whole plants of ryegrass, onion, or Arabidopsis thaliana placed in these solutions. Leafroller (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) larvae fed with these QDs for two or four days, showed fluorescence along the entire gut, in their frass (larval feces), and, at a lower intensity, in their haemolymph. Fluorescent QDs were also observed and elevated cadmium levels detected inside the bodies of adult moths that had been fed QDs as larvae. These results suggest that exposure scenarios for QDs in the total environment could be quite complex and variable in each environmental domain. - Research highlights: {yields} Quantum dots are transported rapidly through soil but half were retained. {yields} Intact roots of plants did not take up quantum dots. Excised plants

  12. Spin-based quantum computation in multielectron quantum dots

    OpenAIRE

    Hu, Xuedong; Sarma, S. Das

    2001-01-01

    In a quantum computer the hardware and software are intrinsically connected because the quantum Hamiltonian (or more precisely its time development) is the code that runs the computer. We demonstrate this subtle and crucial relationship by considering the example of electron-spin-based solid state quantum computer in semiconductor quantum dots. We show that multielectron quantum dots with one valence electron in the outermost shell do not behave simply as an effective single spin system unles...

  13. Optical Signatures of Coupled Quantum Dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stinaff, E. A.; Scheibner, M.; Bracker, A. S.; Ponomarev, I. V.; Korenev, V. L.; Ware, M. E.; Doty, M. F.; Reinecke, T. L.; Gammon, D.

    2006-02-01

    An asymmetric pair of coupled InAs quantum dots is tuned into resonance by applying an electric field so that a single hole forms a coherent molecular wave function. The optical spectrum shows a rich pattern of level anticrossings and crossings that can be understood as a superposition of charge and spin configurations of the two dots. Coulomb interactions shift the molecular resonance of the optically excited state (charged exciton) with respect to the ground state (single charge), enabling light-induced coupling of the quantum dots. This result demonstrates the possibility of optically coupling quantum dots for application in quantum information processing.

  14. Influence of the quantum dot geometry on p -shell transitions in differently charged quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holtkemper, M.; Reiter, D. E.; Kuhn, T.

    2018-02-01

    Absorption spectra of neutral, negatively, and positively charged semiconductor quantum dots are studied theoretically. We provide an overview of the main energetic structure around the p -shell transitions, including the influence of nearby nominally dark states. Based on the envelope function approximation, we treat the four-band Luttinger theory as well as the direct and short-range exchange Coulomb interactions within a configuration interaction approach. The quantum dot confinement is approximated by an anisotropic harmonic potential. We present a detailed investigation of state mixing and correlations mediated by the individual interactions. Differences and similarities between the differently charged quantum dots are highlighted. Especially large differences between negatively and positively charged quantum dots become evident. We present a visualization of energetic shifts and state mixtures due to changes in size, in-plane asymmetry, and aspect ratio. Thereby we provide a better understanding of the experimentally hard to access question of quantum dot geometry effects. Our findings show a method to determine the in-plane asymmetry from photoluminescence excitation spectra. Furthermore, we supply basic knowledge for tailoring the strength of certain state mixtures or the energetic order of particular excited states via changes of the shape of the quantum dot. Such knowledge builds the basis to find the optimal QD geometry for possible applications and experiments using excited states.

  15. Quantum dot-polymer conjugates for stable luminescent displays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghimire, Sushant; Sivadas, Anjaly; Yuyama, Ken-Ichi; Takano, Yuta; Francis, Raju; Biju, Vasudevanpillai

    2018-05-23

    The broad absorption of light in the UV-Vis-NIR region and the size-based tunable photoluminescence color of semiconductor quantum dots make these tiny crystals one of the most attractive antennae in solar cells and phosphors in electrooptical devices. One of the primary requirements for such real-world applications of quantum dots is their stable and uniform distribution in optically transparent matrices. In this work, we prepare transparent thin films of polymer-quantum dot conjugates, where CdSe/ZnS quantum dots are uniformly distributed at high densities in a chitosan-polystyrene copolymer (CS-g-PS) matrix. Here, quantum dots in an aqueous solution are conjugated to the copolymer by a phase transfer reaction. With the stable conjugation of quantum dots to the copolymer, we prevent undesired phase separation between the two and aggregation of quantum dots. Furthermore, the conjugate allows us to prepare transparent thin films in which quantum dots are uniformly distributed at high densities. The CS-g-PS copolymer helps us in not only preserving the photoluminescence properties of quantum dots in the film but also rendering excellent photostability to quantum dots at the ensemble and single particle levels, making the conjugate a promising material for photoluminescence-based devices.

  16. The Study of Quantum Interference in Metallic Photonic Crystals Doped with Four-Level Quantum Dots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hatef Ali

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract In this work, the absorption coefficient of a metallic photonic crystal doped with nanoparticles has been obtained using numerical simulation techniques. The effects of quantum interference and the concentration of doped particles on the absorption coefficient of the system have been investigated. The nanoparticles have been considered as semiconductor quantum dots which behave as a four-level quantum system and are driven by a single coherent laser field. The results show that changing the position of the photonic band gap about the resonant energy of the two lower levels directly affects the decay rate, and the system can be switched between transparent and opaque states if the probe laser field is tuned to the resonance frequency. These results provide an application for metallic nanostructures in the fabrication of new optical switches and photonic devices.

  17. Quantum measurement of coherent tunneling between quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiseman, H. M.; Utami, Dian Wahyu; Sun, He Bi; Milburn, G. J.; Kane, B. E.; Dzurak, A.; Clark, R. G.

    2001-01-01

    We describe the conditional and unconditional dynamics of two coupled quantum dots when one dot is subjected to a measurement of its occupation number by coupling it to a third readout dot via the Coulomb interaction. The readout dot is coupled to source and drain leads under weak bias, and a tunnel current flows through a single bound state when energetically allowed. The occupation of the quantum dot near the readout dot shifts the bound state of the readout dot from a low conducting state to a high conducting state. The measurement is made by continuously monitoring the tunnel current through the readout dot. We show that there is a difference between the time scale for the measurement-induced decoherence between the localized states of the dots, and the time scale on which the system becomes localized due to the measurement

  18. Silicon Quantum Dots for Quantum Information Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-01

    S. Lai, C. Tahan, A. Morello and A. S. Dzurak, Electron Spin lifetimes in multi-valley sil- icon quantum dots, S3NANO Winter School Few spin solid...lifetimes in multi-valley sil- icon quantum dots, International Workshop on Silicon Quantum Electronics, Grenoble, France, February 2012 (Poster). C...typically plunger gates), PMMA A5 is spun at 5000 rpm for 30 seconds, resulting in a 280 nm resist thickness. The resists are baked for 90 seconds at 180

  19. Schottky Quantum Dot Solar Cells Stable in Air under Solar Illumination

    KAUST Repository

    Tang, Jiang

    2010-01-07

    (Figure Presented) The air stability and power conversion efficiency of solution-processed PbS quantum dot solar cells is dramatically improved by the insertion of 0.8 nm LiF between the PbS nanoparticle film and the Al contact. © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

  20. Elimination of Bimodal Size in InAs/GaAs Quantum Dots for Preparation of 1.3-μm Quantum Dot Lasers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Xiang-Bin; Ding, Ying; Ma, Ben; Zhang, Ke-Lu; Chen, Ze-Sheng; Li, Jing-Lun; Cui, Xiao-Ran; Xu, Ying-Qiang; Ni, Hai-Qiao; Niu, Zhi-Chuan

    2018-02-21

    The device characteristics of semiconductor quantum dot lasers have been improved with progress in active layer structures. Self-assembly formed InAs quantum dots grown on GaAs had been intensively promoted in order to achieve quantum dot lasers with superior device performances. In the process of growing high-density InAs/GaAs quantum dots, bimodal size occurs due to large mismatch and other factors. The bimodal size in the InAs/GaAs quantum dot system is eliminated by the method of high-temperature annealing and optimized the in situ annealing temperature. The annealing temperature is taken as the key optimization parameters, and the optimal annealing temperature of 680 °C was obtained. In this process, quantum dot growth temperature, InAs deposition, and arsenic (As) pressure are optimized to improve quantum dot quality and emission wavelength. A 1.3-μm high-performance F-P quantum dot laser with a threshold current density of 110 A/cm 2 was demonstrated.

  1. Graphene quantum dots

    CERN Document Server

    Güçlü, Alev Devrim; Korkusinski, Marek; Hawrylak, Pawel

    2014-01-01

    This book reflects the current status of theoretical and experimental research of graphene based nanostructures, in particular quantum dots, at a level accessible to young researchers, graduate students, experimentalists and theorists. It presents the current state of research of graphene quantum dots, a single or few monolayer thick islands of graphene. It introduces the reader to the electronic and optical properties of graphite, intercalated graphite and graphene, including Dirac fermions, Berry's phase associated with sublattices and valley degeneracy, covers single particle properties of

  2. Hybrid quantum-classical modeling of quantum dot devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kantner, Markus; Mittnenzweig, Markus; Koprucki, Thomas

    2017-11-01

    The design of electrically driven quantum dot devices for quantum optical applications asks for modeling approaches combining classical device physics with quantum mechanics. We connect the well-established fields of semiclassical semiconductor transport theory and the theory of open quantum systems to meet this requirement. By coupling the van Roosbroeck system with a quantum master equation in Lindblad form, we introduce a new hybrid quantum-classical modeling approach, which provides a comprehensive description of quantum dot devices on multiple scales: it enables the calculation of quantum optical figures of merit and the spatially resolved simulation of the current flow in realistic semiconductor device geometries in a unified way. We construct the interface between both theories in such a way, that the resulting hybrid system obeys the fundamental axioms of (non)equilibrium thermodynamics. We show that our approach guarantees the conservation of charge, consistency with the thermodynamic equilibrium and the second law of thermodynamics. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated by numerical simulations of an electrically driven single-photon source based on a single quantum dot in the stationary and transient operation regime.

  3. Quantum features of semiconductor quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lozada-Cassou, M.; Dong Shihai; Yu Jiang

    2004-01-01

    The exact solutions of the two-dimensional Schrodinger equation with the position-dependent mass for the square well potential in the semiconductor quantum dots system are obtained. The eigenvalues, which are closely related to the position-dependent masses μ1 and μ2, the potential well depth V0 and the radius of the quantum dots r0, can be calculated from two boundary conditions. We generalize this quantum system to three-dimensional case. The special cases for the angular momentum quantum number l=0, 1, 2 are studied in some detail. We find that the energy levels are proportional to the parameters μ2, V0 and r0 for l=0. The relations between them for l=1, 2 become very complicated. The scattering states of this quantum system are mentioned briefly

  4. The surface chemistry determines the spatio-temporal interaction dynamics of quantum dots in atherosclerotic lesions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uhl, Bernd; Hirn, Stephanie; Mildner, Karina; Coletti, Raffaele; Massberg, Steffen; Reichel, Christoph A; Rehberg, Markus; Zeuschner, Dagmar; Krombach, Fritz

    2018-03-01

    To optimize the design of nanoparticles for diagnosis or therapy of vascular diseases, it is mandatory to characterize the determinants of nano-bio interactions in vascular lesions. Using ex vivo and in vivo microscopy, we analyzed the interactive behavior of quantum dots with different surface functionalizations in atherosclerotic lesions of ApoE-deficient mice. We demonstrate that quantum dots with different surface functionalizations exhibit specific interactive behaviors with distinct molecular and cellular components of the injured vessel wall. Moreover, we show a role for fibrinogen in the regulation of the spatio-temporal interaction dynamics in atherosclerotic lesions. Our findings emphasize the relevance of surface chemistry-driven nano-bio interactions on the differential in vivo behavior of nanoparticles in diseased tissue.

  5. Andreev molecules in semiconductor nanowire double quantum dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Zhaoen; Tacla, Alexandre B; Hocevar, Moïra; Car, Diana; Plissard, Sébastien R; Bakkers, Erik P A M; Daley, Andrew J; Pekker, David; Frolov, Sergey M

    2017-09-19

    Chains of quantum dots coupled to superconductors are promising for the realization of the Kitaev model of a topological superconductor. While individual superconducting quantum dots have been explored, control of longer chains requires understanding of interdot coupling. Here, double quantum dots are defined by gate voltages in indium antimonide nanowires. High transparency superconducting niobium titanium nitride contacts are made to each of the dots in order to induce superconductivity, as well as probe electron transport. Andreev bound states induced on each of dots hybridize to define Andreev molecular states. The evolution of these states is studied as a function of charge parity on the dots, and in magnetic field. The experiments are found in agreement with a numerical model.Quantum dots in a nanowire are one possible approach to creating a solid-state quantum simulator. Here, the authors demonstrate the coupling of electronic states in a double quantum dot to form Andreev molecule states; a potential building block for longer chains suitable for quantum simulation.

  6. Combination of short-length TiO_2 nanorod arrays and compact PbS quantum-dot thin films for efficient solid-state quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Zhengguo; Shi, Chengwu; Chen, Junjun; Xiao, Guannan; Li, Long

    2017-01-01

    Graphical abstract: The TiO_2 nanorod array with the length of 600 nm, the diameter of 20 nm, the areal density of 500 μm"−"2 was successfully prepared. The compact PbS quantum-dot thin film was firstly obtained on the TiO_2 nanorod array by spin-coating-assisted successive ionic layer absorption and reaction with using 1,2-ethanedithiol. The photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of the compact PbS quantum-dot thin film sensitized solar cells achieved 4.10% using spiro-OMeTAD as a hole transporting layer, while the PCE of the PbS quantum-dot sensitized solar cells was only 0.54%. - Highlights: • Preparation of TiO_2 nanorod arrays with the length of 600 nm, diameter of 20 nm. • The compact PbS QD thin film and short-length TiO_2 nanorod array were combined. • EDT addition improved PbS nanoparticle coverage and photovoltaic performance. • The compact PbS QD thin film sensitized solar cell achieved the PCE of 4.10%. - Abstract: Considering the balance of the hole diffusion length and the loading quantity of quantum-dots, the rutile TiO_2 nanorod array with the length of 600 nm, the diameter of 20 nm, and the areal density of 500 μm"−"2 is successfully prepared by the hydrothermal method using the aqueous grown solution of 38 mM titanium isopropoxide and 6 M hydrochloric acid at 170 °C for 105 min. The compact PbS quantum-dot thin film on the TiO_2 nanorod array is firstly obtained by the spin-coating-assisted successive ionic layer absorption and reaction with using 1,2-ethanedithiol (EDT). The result reveals that the strong interaction between lead and EDT is very important to control the crystallite size of PbS quantum-dots and obtain the compact PbS quantum-dot thin film on the TiO_2 nanorod array. The all solid-state sensitized solar cell with the combination of the short-length, high-density TiO_2 nanorod array and the compact PbS quantum-dot thin film achieves the photoelectric conversion efficiency of 4.10%, along with an open

  7. Dynamics and mechanisms of quantum dot nanoparticle cellular uptake

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Telford William G

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The rapid growth of the nanotechnology industry and the wide application of various nanomaterials have raised concerns over their impact on the environment and human health. Yet little is known about the mechanism of cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of nanoparticles. An array of nanomaterials has recently been introduced into cancer research promising for remarkable improvements in diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Among them, quantum dots (QDs distinguish themselves in offering many intrinsic photophysical properties that are desirable for targeted imaging and drug delivery. Results We explored the kinetics and mechanism of cellular uptake of QDs with different surface coatings in two human mammary cells. Using fluorescence microscopy and laser scanning cytometry (LSC, we found that both MCF-7 and MCF-10A cells internalized large amount of QD655-COOH, but the percentage of endocytosing cells is slightly higher in MCF-7 cell line than in MCF-10A cell line. Live cell fluorescent imaging showed that QD cellular uptake increases with time over 40 h of incubation. Staining cells with dyes specific to various intracellular organelles indicated that QDs were localized in lysosomes. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM images suggested a potential pathway for QD cellular uptake mechanism involving three major stages: endocytosis, sequestration in early endosomes, and translocation to later endosomes or lysosomes. No cytotoxicity was observed in cells incubated with 0.8 nM of QDs for a period of 72 h. Conclusions The findings presented here provide information on the mechanism of QD endocytosis that could be exploited to reduce non-specific targeting, thereby improving specific targeting of QDs in cancer diagnosis and treatment applications. These findings are also important in understanding the cytotoxicity of nanomaterials and in emphasizing the importance of strict environmental control of nanoparticles.

  8. Templated self-assembly of SiGe quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dais, Christian

    2009-08-19

    This PhD thesis reports on the fabrication and characterization of exact aligned SiGe quantum dot structures. In general, SiGe quantum dots which nucleate via the Stranski-Krastanov growth mode exhibit broad size dispersion and nucleate randomly on the surface. However, to tap the full potential of SiGe quantum dots it is necessary to control the positioning and size of the dots on a nanometer length, e.g. for electronically addressing of individual dots. This can be realized by so-called templated self-assembly, which combines top-down lithography with bottom-up selfassembly. In this process the lithographically defined pits serve as pre-defined nucleation points for the epitaxially grown quantum dots. In this thesis, extreme ultraviolet interference lithography at a wavelength of e=13.4 nm is employed for prepatterning of the Si substrates. This technique allows the precise and fast fabrication of high-resolution templates with a high degree of reproducibility. The subsequent epitaxial deposition is either performed by molecular beam epitaxy or low-pressure chemical vapour deposition. It is shown that the dot nucleation on pre-patterned substrates depends strongly on the lithography parameters, e.g. size and periodicity of the pits, as well as on the epitaxy parameters, e.g. growth temperature or material coverage. The interrelations are carefully analyzed by means of scanning force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. Provided that correct template and overgrowth parameters are chosen, perfectly aligned and uniform SiGe quantum dot arrays of different period, size as well as symmetry are created. In particular, the quantum dot arrays with the so far smallest period (35 nm) and smallest size dispersion are fabricated in this thesis. Furthermore, the strain fields of the underlying quantum dots allow the fabrication of vertically aligned quantum dot stacks. Combining lateral and vertical dot alignment results in three

  9. Quantum Dots and Their Multimodal Applications: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul H. Holloway

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Semiconducting quantum dots, whose particle sizes are in the nanometer range, have very unusual properties. The quantum dots have band gaps that depend in a complicated fashion upon a number of factors, described in the article. Processing-structure-properties-performance relationships are reviewed for compound semiconducting quantum dots. Various methods for synthesizing these quantum dots are discussed, as well as their resulting properties. Quantum states and confinement of their excitons may shift their optical absorption and emission energies. Such effects are important for tuning their luminescence stimulated by photons (photoluminescence or electric field (electroluminescence. In this article, decoupling of quantum effects on excitation and emission are described, along with the use of quantum dots as sensitizers in phosphors. In addition, we reviewed the multimodal applications of quantum dots, including in electroluminescence device, solar cell and biological imaging.

  10. Quantum dot solar cells

    CERN Document Server

    Wu, Jiang

    2013-01-01

    The third generation of solar cells includes those based on semiconductor quantum dots. This sophisticated technology applies nanotechnology and quantum mechanics theory to enhance the performance of ordinary solar cells. Although a practical application of quantum dot solar cells has yet to be achieved, a large number of theoretical calculations and experimental studies have confirmed the potential for meeting the requirement for ultra-high conversion efficiency. In this book, high-profile scientists have contributed tutorial chapters that outline the methods used in and the results of variou

  11. Synthetic Developments of Nontoxic Quantum Dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, Adita; Snee, Preston T

    2016-03-03

    Semiconductor nanocrystals, or quantum dots (QDs), are candidates for biological sensing, photovoltaics, and catalysis due to their unique photophysical properties. The most studied QDs are composed of heavy metals like cadmium and lead. However, this engenders concerns over heavy metal toxicity. To address this issue, numerous studies have explored the development of nontoxic (or more accurately less toxic) quantum dots. In this Review, we select three major classes of nontoxic quantum dots composed of carbon, silicon and Group I-III-VI elements and discuss the myriad of synthetic strategies and surface modification methods to synthesize quantum dots composed of these material systems. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  12. MOVPE grown InGaAs quantum dots of high optical quality as seed layer for low-density InP quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Richter, D; Hafenbrak, R; Joens, K D; Schulz, W-M; Eichfelder, M; Rossbach, R; Jetter, M; Michler, P

    2010-01-01

    To achieve a low density of optically active InP-quantum dots we used InGaAs islands embedded in GaAs as a seed layer. First, the structural InGaAs quantum dot properties and the influence of the annealing technique was investigated by atomic force microscope measurements. High-resolution micro-photoluminescence spectra reveal narrow photoluminescence lines, with linewidths down to 11 μeV and fine structure splittings of 25 μeV. Furthermore, using these InGaAs quantum dots as seed layer reduces the InP quantum dot density of optically active quantum dots drastically. InP quantum dot excitonic photoluminescence emission with a linewidth of 140 μeV has been observed.

  13. Exciton-plasmon quantum metastates: self-induced oscillations of plasmon fields in the absence of decoherence in nanoparticle molecules

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sadeghi, S. M., E-mail: seyed.sadeghi@uah.edu [University of Alabama in Huntsville, Department of Physics and Nano and Mirco Device Center (United States)

    2016-02-15

    We investigate formation of unique quantum states (metastates) in quantum dot-metallic nanoparticle systems via self-induced coherent dynamics generated by interaction of these systems with a visible and an infrared laser fields. In such metastates, the quantum decoherence rates of the quantum dots can become zero and even negative while they start to rapidly change with time. Under these conditions, the energy dissipation rates and plasmon fields of the nanoparticle systems undergo undamped oscillations with gigahertz frequency, while the amplitudes of both visible and the infrared laser fields are considered to be time-independent. These dynamics also lead to variation of the plasmon absorption of the metallic nanoparticles between high and nearly zero values, forming electromagnetically induced transparency oscillations. We show that under these conditions, the effective transition energies and broadening of the quantum dots undergo oscillatory dynamics, highlighting the unique aspects of the metastates. These results extend the horizon for investigation of light-matter interaction in the presence of zero or negative polarization dephasing rates with strong time dependency.

  14. Properties of POPC/POPE supported lipid bilayers modified with hydrophobic quantum dots on polyelectrolyte cushions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolasinska-Sojka, Marta; Wlodek, Magdalena; Szuwarzynski, Michal; Kereiche, Sami; Kovacik, Lubomir; Warszynski, Piotr

    2017-10-01

    The formation and properties of supported lipid bilayers (SLB) containing hydrophobic nanoparticles (NP) was studied in relation to underlying cushion obtained from selected polyelectrolyte multilayers. Lipid vesicles were formed from zwitterionic 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) and negatively charged 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (POPE) in phosphate buffer (PBS). As hydrophobic nanoparticles - quantum dots (QD) with size of 3.8nm (emission wavelength of 420nm) were used. Polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM) were constructed by the sequential, i.e., layer-by-layer (LbL) adsorption of alternately charged polyelectrolytes from their solutions. Liposomes and Liposome-QDs complexes were studied with Transmission Cryo-Electron Microscopy (Cryo-TEM) to verify the quality of vesicles and the position of QD within lipid bilayer. Deposition of liposomes and liposomes with quantum dots on polyelectrolyte films was studied in situ using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) technique. The fluorescence emission spectra were analyzed for both: suspension of liposomes with nanoparticles and for supported lipid bilayers containing QD on PEM. It was demonstrated that quantum dots are located in the hydrophobic part of lipid bilayer. Moreover, we proved that such QD-modified liposomes formed supported lipid bilayers and their final structure depended on the type of underlying cushion. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Synthesis of CdSe quantum dots for quantum dot sensitized solar cell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singh, Neetu, E-mail: singh.neetu1985@gmail.com; Kapoor, Avinashi [Department of Electronic Science, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi-110 021 (India); Kumar, Vinod [Department of Physics, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, ZA9300 (South Africa); Mehra, R. M. [School of Engineering and Technology, Sharda University, Greater Noida-201 306, U.P. (India)

    2014-04-24

    CdSe Quantum Dots (QDs) of size 0.85 nm were synthesized using chemical route. ZnO based Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cell (QDSSC) was fabricated using CdSe QDs as sensitizer. The Pre-synthesized QDs were found to be successfully adsorbed on front ZnO electrode and had potential to replace organic dyes in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs). The efficiency of QDSSC was obtained to be 2.06 % at AM 1.5.

  16. Quantum Dot Systems: a versatile platform for quantum simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barthelemy, Pierre; Vandersypen, Lieven M.K.

    2013-01-01

    Quantum mechanics often results in extremely complex phenomena, especially when the quantum system under consideration is composed of many interacting particles. The states of these many-body systems live in a space so large that classical numerical calculations cannot compute them. Quantum simulations can be used to overcome this problem: complex quantum problems can be solved by studying experimentally an artificial quantum system operated to simulate the desired hamiltonian. Quantum dot systems have shown to be widely tunable quantum systems, that can be efficiently controlled electrically. This tunability and the versatility of their design makes them very promising quantum simulators. This paper reviews the progress towards digital quantum simulations with individually controlled quantum dots, as well as the analog quantum simulations that have been performed with these systems. The possibility to use large arrays of quantum dots to simulate the low-temperature Hubbard model is also discussed. The main issues along that path are presented and new ideas to overcome them are proposed. (copyright 2013 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  17. Single-step fabrication of quantum funnels via centrifugal colloidal casting of nanoparticle films.

    KAUST Repository

    Kim, Jin Young; Adinolfi, Valerio; Sutherland, Brandon R; Voznyy, Oleksandr; Kwon, S Joon; Kim, Tae Wu; Kim, Jeongho; Ihee, Hyotcherl; Kemp, Kyle; Adachi, Michael; Yuan, Mingjian; Kramer, Illan; Zhitomirsky, David; Hoogland, Sjoerd; Sargent, Edward H

    2015-01-01

    Centrifugal casting of composites and ceramics has been widely employed to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of functional materials. This powerful method has yet to be deployed in the context of nanoparticles--yet size-effect tuning of quantum dots is among their most distinctive and application-relevant features. Here we report the first gradient nanoparticle films to be constructed in a single step. By creating a stable colloid of nanoparticles that are capped with electronic-conduction-compatible ligands we were able to leverage centrifugal casting for thin-films devices. This new method, termed centrifugal colloidal casting, is demonstrated to form films in a bandgap-ordered manner with efficient carrier funnelling towards the lowest energy layer. We constructed the first quantum-gradient photodiode to be formed in a single deposition step and, as a result of the gradient-enhanced electric field, experimentally measured the highest normalized detectivity of any colloidal quantum dot photodetector.

  18. Single-step fabrication of quantum funnels via centrifugal colloidal casting of nanoparticle films.

    KAUST Repository

    Kim, Jin Young

    2015-07-13

    Centrifugal casting of composites and ceramics has been widely employed to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of functional materials. This powerful method has yet to be deployed in the context of nanoparticles--yet size-effect tuning of quantum dots is among their most distinctive and application-relevant features. Here we report the first gradient nanoparticle films to be constructed in a single step. By creating a stable colloid of nanoparticles that are capped with electronic-conduction-compatible ligands we were able to leverage centrifugal casting for thin-films devices. This new method, termed centrifugal colloidal casting, is demonstrated to form films in a bandgap-ordered manner with efficient carrier funnelling towards the lowest energy layer. We constructed the first quantum-gradient photodiode to be formed in a single deposition step and, as a result of the gradient-enhanced electric field, experimentally measured the highest normalized detectivity of any colloidal quantum dot photodetector.

  19. Magnetofluorescent nanocomposites and quantum dots used for optimal application in magnetic fluorescence-linked immunoassay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, H Y; Li, S Y; Fuh, C Bor

    2018-03-01

    Magnetofluorescent nanocomposites with optimal magnetic and fluorescent properties were prepared and characterized by combining magnetic nanoparticles (iron oxide@polymethyl methacrylate) with fluorescent nanoparticles (rhodamine 6G@mSiO 2 ). Experimental parameters were optimized to produce nanocomposites with high magnetic susceptibility and fluorescence intensity. The detection of a model biomarker (alpha-fetoprotein) was used to demonstrate the feasibility of applying the magnetofluorescent nanocomposites combined with quantum dots and using magnetic fluorescence-linked immunoassay. The magnetofluorescent nanocomposites enable efficient mixing, fast re-concentration, and nanoparticle quantization for optimal reactions. Biofunctional quantum dots were used to confirm the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) content in sandwich immunoassay after mixing and washing. The analysis time was only one third that required in ELISA. The detection limit was 0.2 pg mL -1 , and the linear range was 0.68 pg mL -1 -6.8 ng mL -1 . This detection limit is lower, and the linear range is wider than those of ELISA and other methods. The measurements made using the proposed method differed by less than 13% from those obtained using ELISA for four AFP concentrations (0.03, 0.15, 0.75, and 3.75 ng mL -1 ). The proposed method has a considerable potential for biomarker detection in various analytical and biomedical applications. Graphical abstract Magnetofluorescent nanocomposites combined with fluorescent quantum dots were used in magnetic fluorescence-linked immunoassay.

  20. Dicke states in multiple quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sitek, Anna; Manolescu, Andrei

    2013-10-01

    We present a theoretical study of the collective optical effects which can occur in groups of three and four quantum dots. We define conditions for stable subradiant (dark) states, rapidly decaying super-radiant states, and spontaneous trapping of excitation. Each quantum dot is treated like a two-level system. The quantum dots are, however, realistic, meaning that they may have different transition energies and dipole moments. The dots interact via a short-range coupling which allows excitation transfer across the dots, but conserves the total population of the system. We calculate the time evolution of single-exciton and biexciton states using the Lindblad equation. In the steady state the individual populations of each dot may have permanent oscillations with frequencies given by the energy separation between the subradiant eigenstates.

  1. Plasmon-enhanced terahertz emission in self-assembled quantum dots by femtosecond pulses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carreño, F., E-mail: ferpo@fis.ucm.es; Antón, M. A., E-mail: antonm@fis.ucm.es; Melle, Sonia, E-mail: smelle@fis.ucm.es; Calderón, Oscar G., E-mail: oscargc@fis.ucm.es; Cabrera-Granado, E., E-mail: ecabrera@fis.ucm.es [Facultad de Óptica y Optometría, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/ Arcos de Jalón 118, 28037 Madrid (Spain); Cox, Joel, E-mail: jcox27@uwo.ca; Singh, Mahi R., E-mail: msingh@uwo.ca [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Western Ontario, London N6A 3K7 (Canada); Egatz-Gómez, A., E-mail: Ana.Egatz-Gomez.1@nd.edu [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana 46556 (United States)

    2014-02-14

    A scheme for terahertz (THz) generation from intraband transition in a self-assembled quantum dot (QD) molecule coupled to a metallic nanoparticle (MNP) is analyzed. The QD structure is described as a three-level atom-like system using the density matrix formalism. The MNP with spherical geometry is considered in the quasistatic approximation. A femtosecond laser pulse creates a coherent superposition of two subbands in the quantum dots and produces localized surface plasmons in the nanoparticle which act back upon the QD molecule via dipole-dipole interaction. As a result, coherent THz radiation with a frequency corresponding to the interlevel spacing can be obtained, which is strongly modified by the presence of the MNP. The peak value of the terahertz signal is analyzed as a function of nanoparticle's size, the MNP to QD distance, and the area of the applied laser field. In addition, we theoretically demonstrate that the terahertz pulse generation can be effectively controlled by making use of a train of femtosecond laser pulses. We show that by a proper choice of the parameters characterizing the pulse train a huge enhancement of the terahertz signal is obtained.

  2. Core–shell quantum dots: Properties and applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vasudevan, D., E-mail: vasudevand@rediffmail.com [Electrodics and electrocatalysis division, CSIR-CECRI, Karaikudi 630006 (India); Gaddam, Rohit Ranganathan [Amity Institute of Nanotechnology, Amity University, Noida 201301 (India); Trinchi, Adrian; Cole, Ivan [CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, Clayton South MDC, 3169 (Australia)

    2015-07-05

    Fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) are semiconducting nanocrystals (NCs) that find numerous applications in areas, such as bio labelling, sensors, lasers, light emitting diodes and medicine. Core–shell quantum dots were developed to improve the photoluminescence efficiency of single quantum dots. Capping their surface with organic ligands as well as their extraction into aqueous media enables their use in sensing applications. The current review highlights the importance and applications of core shell quantum dots as well as their surface modifications and applications in the field of medicine and as sensors for chemical and biochemical analysis.

  3. Core–shell quantum dots: Properties and applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vasudevan, D.; Gaddam, Rohit Ranganathan; Trinchi, Adrian; Cole, Ivan

    2015-01-01

    Fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) are semiconducting nanocrystals (NCs) that find numerous applications in areas, such as bio labelling, sensors, lasers, light emitting diodes and medicine. Core–shell quantum dots were developed to improve the photoluminescence efficiency of single quantum dots. Capping their surface with organic ligands as well as their extraction into aqueous media enables their use in sensing applications. The current review highlights the importance and applications of core shell quantum dots as well as their surface modifications and applications in the field of medicine and as sensors for chemical and biochemical analysis

  4. Correlation effects in side-coupled quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zitko, R; Bonca, J

    2007-01-01

    Using Wilson's numerical renormalization group (NRG) technique, we compute zero-bias conductance and various correlation functions of a double quantum dot (DQD) system. We present different regimes within a phase diagram of the DQD system. By introducing a negative Hubbard U on one of the quantum dots, we simulate the effect of electron-phonon coupling and explore the properties of the coexisting spin and charge Kondo state. In a triple quantum dot (TQD) system, a multi-stage Kondo effect appears where localized moments on quantum dots are screened successively at exponentially distinct Kondo temperatures

  5. Quantum-dot-in-perovskite solids

    KAUST Repository

    Ning, Zhijun; Gong, Xiwen; Comin, Riccardo; Walters, Grant; Fan, Fengjia; Voznyy, Oleksandr; Yassitepe, Emre; Buin, Andrei; Hoogland, Sjoerd; Sargent, Edward H.

    2015-01-01

    © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. Heteroepitaxy - atomically aligned growth of a crystalline film atop a different crystalline substrate - is the basis of electrically driven lasers, multijunction solar cells, and blue-light-emitting diodes. Crystalline coherence is preserved even when atomic identity is modulated, a fact that is the critical enabler of quantum wells, wires, and dots. The interfacial quality achieved as a result of heteroepitaxial growth allows new combinations of materials with complementary properties, which enables the design and realization of functionalities that are not available in the single-phase constituents. Here we show that organohalide perovskites and preformed colloidal quantum dots, combined in the solution phase, produce epitaxially aligned 'dots-in-a-matrix' crystals. Using transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction, we reveal heterocrystals as large as about 60 nanometres and containing at least 20 mutually aligned dots that inherit the crystalline orientation of the perovskite matrix. The heterocrystals exhibit remarkable optoelectronic properties that are traceable to their atom-scale crystalline coherence: photoelectrons and holes generated in the larger-bandgap perovskites are transferred with 80% efficiency to become excitons in the quantum dot nanocrystals, which exploit the excellent photocarrier diffusion of perovskites to produce bright-light emission from infrared-bandgap quantum-tuned materials. By combining the electrical transport properties of the perovskite matrix with the high radiative efficiency of the quantum dots, we engineer a new platform to advance solution-processed infrared optoelectronics.

  6. Quantum-dot-in-perovskite solids

    KAUST Repository

    Ning, Zhijun

    2015-07-15

    © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. Heteroepitaxy - atomically aligned growth of a crystalline film atop a different crystalline substrate - is the basis of electrically driven lasers, multijunction solar cells, and blue-light-emitting diodes. Crystalline coherence is preserved even when atomic identity is modulated, a fact that is the critical enabler of quantum wells, wires, and dots. The interfacial quality achieved as a result of heteroepitaxial growth allows new combinations of materials with complementary properties, which enables the design and realization of functionalities that are not available in the single-phase constituents. Here we show that organohalide perovskites and preformed colloidal quantum dots, combined in the solution phase, produce epitaxially aligned \\'dots-in-a-matrix\\' crystals. Using transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction, we reveal heterocrystals as large as about 60 nanometres and containing at least 20 mutually aligned dots that inherit the crystalline orientation of the perovskite matrix. The heterocrystals exhibit remarkable optoelectronic properties that are traceable to their atom-scale crystalline coherence: photoelectrons and holes generated in the larger-bandgap perovskites are transferred with 80% efficiency to become excitons in the quantum dot nanocrystals, which exploit the excellent photocarrier diffusion of perovskites to produce bright-light emission from infrared-bandgap quantum-tuned materials. By combining the electrical transport properties of the perovskite matrix with the high radiative efficiency of the quantum dots, we engineer a new platform to advance solution-processed infrared optoelectronics.

  7. Organic molecules passivated Mn doped Zinc Selenide quantum dots and its properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Archana, J.; Navaneethan, M.; Ponnusamy, S.; Hayakawa, Y.; Muthamizhchelvan, C.

    2011-01-01

    Quantum dots of Mn doped Zinc Selenide with N-Methylaniline as the capping agent was prepared by simple and inexpensive wet chemical method. Size of the particles observed by TEM was of the order of 2-4 nm which was well consistent with the size measured by UV analysis. The presence of paramagnetic substance Mn 2+ in the ZnSe quantum dots was confirmed by EPR measurement. Mn doped ZnSe nanoparticles exhibited a strong blue emission that was strongly dependent upon the Mn dopant level and the surface passivation produced by N-Methylaniline. The stability of the product was studied by thermal analysis which shows that this product is highly suitable for opto-electronic applications.

  8. Dual-Mode SERS-Fluorescence Immunoassay Using Graphene Quantum Dot Labeling on One-Dimensional Aligned Magnetoplasmonic Nanoparticles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Fengming; Zhou, Hongjian; Tan, Tran Van; Kim, Jeonghyo; Koh, Kwangnak; Lee, Jaebeom

    2015-06-10

    A novel dual-mode immunoassay based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and fluorescence was designed using graphene quantum dot (GQD) labels to detect a tuberculosis (TB) antigen, CFP-10, via a newly developed sensing platform of linearly aligned magnetoplasmonic (MagPlas) nanoparticles (NPs). The GQDs were excellent bilabeling materials for simultaneous Raman scattering and photoluminescence (PL). The one-dimensional (1D) alignment of MagPlas NPs simplified the immunoassay process and enabled fast, enhanced signal transduction. With a sandwich-type immunoassay using dual-mode nanoprobes, both SERS signals and fluorescence images were recognized in a highly sensitive and selective manner with a detection limit of 0.0511 pg mL(-1).

  9. Quantum dot optoelectronic devices: lasers, photodetectors and solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Jiang; Chen, Siming; Seeds, Alwyn; Liu, Huiyun

    2015-01-01

    Nanometre-scale semiconductor devices have been envisioned as next-generation technologies with high integration and functionality. Quantum dots, or the so-called ‘artificial atoms’, exhibit unique properties due to their quantum confinement in all 3D. These unique properties have brought to light the great potential of quantum dots in optoelectronic applications. Numerous efforts worldwide have been devoted to these promising nanomaterials for next-generation optoelectronic devices, such as lasers, photodetectors, amplifiers, and solar cells, with the emphasis on improving performance and functionality. Through the development in optoelectronic devices based on quantum dots over the last two decades, quantum dot devices with exceptional performance surpassing previous devices are evidenced. This review describes recent developments in quantum dot optoelectronic devices over the last few years. The paper will highlight the major progress made in 1.3 μm quantum dot lasers, quantum dot infrared photodetectors, and quantum dot solar cells. (topical review)

  10. Combination of short-length TiO{sub 2} nanorod arrays and compact PbS quantum-dot thin films for efficient solid-state quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Zhengguo [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China); School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beifang University of Nationalities, Yinchuan 750021 (China); Shi, Chengwu, E-mail: shicw506@foxmail.com [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China); Chen, Junjun; Xiao, Guannan; Li, Long [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China)

    2017-07-15

    Graphical abstract: The TiO{sub 2} nanorod array with the length of 600 nm, the diameter of 20 nm, the areal density of 500 μm{sup −2} was successfully prepared. The compact PbS quantum-dot thin film was firstly obtained on the TiO{sub 2} nanorod array by spin-coating-assisted successive ionic layer absorption and reaction with using 1,2-ethanedithiol. The photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of the compact PbS quantum-dot thin film sensitized solar cells achieved 4.10% using spiro-OMeTAD as a hole transporting layer, while the PCE of the PbS quantum-dot sensitized solar cells was only 0.54%. - Highlights: • Preparation of TiO{sub 2} nanorod arrays with the length of 600 nm, diameter of 20 nm. • The compact PbS QD thin film and short-length TiO{sub 2} nanorod array were combined. • EDT addition improved PbS nanoparticle coverage and photovoltaic performance. • The compact PbS QD thin film sensitized solar cell achieved the PCE of 4.10%. - Abstract: Considering the balance of the hole diffusion length and the loading quantity of quantum-dots, the rutile TiO{sub 2} nanorod array with the length of 600 nm, the diameter of 20 nm, and the areal density of 500 μm{sup −2} is successfully prepared by the hydrothermal method using the aqueous grown solution of 38 mM titanium isopropoxide and 6 M hydrochloric acid at 170 °C for 105 min. The compact PbS quantum-dot thin film on the TiO{sub 2} nanorod array is firstly obtained by the spin-coating-assisted successive ionic layer absorption and reaction with using 1,2-ethanedithiol (EDT). The result reveals that the strong interaction between lead and EDT is very important to control the crystallite size of PbS quantum-dots and obtain the compact PbS quantum-dot thin film on the TiO{sub 2} nanorod array. The all solid-state sensitized solar cell with the combination of the short-length, high-density TiO{sub 2} nanorod array and the compact PbS quantum-dot thin film achieves the photoelectric conversion

  11. Optical and structural properties of ensembles of colloidal Ag2S quantum dots in gelatin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ovchinnikov, O. V.; Smirnov, M. S.; Shapiro, B. I.; Shatskikh, T. S.; Perepelitsa, A. S.; Korolev, N. V.

    2015-01-01

    The size dependences of the absorption and luminescence spectra of ensembles of hydrophilic colloidal Ag 2 S quantum dots produced by the sol-gel method and dispersed in gelatin are analyzed. By X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy, the formation of core/shell nanoparticles is detected. The characteristic feature of the nanoparticles is the formation of crystalline cores, 1.5–2.0 nm in dimensions, and shells of gelatin and its complexes with the components of synthesis. The observed slight size dependence of the position of infrared photoluminescence bands (in the range 1000–1400 nm) in the ensembles of hydrophilic colloidal Ag 2 S quantum dots is explained within the context of the model of the radiative recombination of electrons localized at structural and impurity defects with free holes

  12. Ubiquitous quantum dot-sensitized nanoporous film for hydrogen production under visible-light irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyauchi, Masahiro; Shiga, Yuhiro; Srinivasan, Nagarajan; Atarashi, Daiki; Sakai, Etsuo

    2015-01-01

    To develop the efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production device, tin monosulfide (SnS) quantum dots (QDs) were deposited onto a nanoporous TiO 2 electrode by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. When Pt nanoparticles as co-catalysts were modified at the interface between the electroconductive glass substrate and nanoporous SnS QDs/TiO 2 layer, hydrogen molecules were produced under visible-light irradiation without applying a bias potential. In addition, the size and color of SnS QDs could be tailored using SILAR method, and the optimal structure of the SnS QDs was determined for efficient photocurrent generation and hydrogen production. The photocatalysis device developed in the present study was constructed as a simple single plate consisting of non-toxic elements. - Highlights: • Unique photo-electrochemical thin film device without application of a bias potential. • Non-toxic and inexpensive SnS quantum dot for visible-light harvesting. • Tailored SnS quantum dots using the SILAR method for efficient hydrogen production

  13. Entangled exciton states in quantum dot molecules

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayer, Manfred

    2002-03-01

    Currently there is strong interest in quantum information processing(See, for example, The Physics of Quantum Information, eds. D. Bouwmeester, A. Ekert and A. Zeilinger (Springer, Berlin, 2000).) in a solid state environment. Many approaches mimic atomic physics concepts in which semiconductor quantum dots are implemented as artificial atoms. An essential building block of a quantum processor is a gate which entangles the states of two quantum bits. Recently a pair of vertically aligned quantum dots has been suggested as optically driven quantum gate(P. Hawrylak, S. Fafard, and Z. R. Wasilewski, Cond. Matter News 7, 16 (1999).)(M. Bayer, P. Hawrylak, K. Hinzer, S. Fafard, M. Korkusinski, Z.R. Wasilewski, O. Stern, and A. Forchel, Science 291, 451 (2001).): The quantum bits are individual carriers either on dot zero or dot one. The different dot indices play the same role as a "spin", therefore we call them "isospin". Quantum mechanical tunneling between the dots rotates the isospin and leads to superposition of these states. The quantum gate is built when two different particles, an electron and a hole, are created optically. The two particles form entangled isospin states. Here we present spectrocsopic studies of single self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dot molecules that support the feasibility of this proposal. The evolution of the excitonic recombination spectrum with varying separation between the dots allows us to demonstrate coherent tunneling of carriers across the separating barrier and the formation of entangled exciton states: Due to the coupling between the dots the exciton states show a splitting that increases with decreasing barrier width. For barrier widths below 5 nm it exceeds the thermal energy at room temperature. For a given barrier width, we find only small variations of the tunneling induced splitting demonstrating a good homogeneity within a molecule ensemble. The entanglement may be controlled by application of electromagnetic field. For

  14. Metamorphic quantum dots: Quite different nanostructures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seravalli, L.; Frigeri, P.; Nasi, L.; Trevisi, G.; Bocchi, C.

    2010-01-01

    In this work, we present a study of InAs quantum dots deposited on InGaAs metamorphic buffers by molecular beam epitaxy. By comparing morphological, structural, and optical properties of such nanostructures with those of InAs/GaAs quantum dot ones, we were able to evidence characteristics that are typical of metamorphic InAs/InGaAs structures. The more relevant are: the cross-hatched InGaAs surface overgrown by dots, the change in critical coverages for island nucleation and ripening, the nucleation of new defects in the capping layers, and the redshift in the emission energy. The discussion on experimental results allowed us to conclude that metamorphic InAs/InGaAs quantum dots are rather different nanostructures, where attention must be put to some issues not present in InAs/GaAs structures, namely, buffer-related defects, surface morphology, different dislocation mobility, and stacking fault energies. On the other hand, we show that metamorphic quantum dot nanostructures can provide new possibilities of tailoring various properties, such as dot positioning and emission energy, that could be very useful for innovative dot-based devices.

  15. Nanodiamonds and silicon quantum dots: ultrastable and biocompatible luminescent nanoprobes for long-term bioimaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montalti, M; Cantelli, A; Battistelli, G

    2015-07-21

    Fluorescence bioimaging is a powerful, versatile, method for investigating, both in vivo and in vitro, the complex structures and functions of living organisms in real time and space, also using super-resolution techniques. Being poorly invasive, fluorescence bioimaging is suitable for long-term observation of biological processes. Long-term detection is partially prevented by photobleaching of organic fluorescent probes. Semiconductor quantum dots, in contrast, are ultrastable, fluorescent contrast agents detectable even at the single nanoparticle level. Emission color of quantum dots is size dependent and nanoprobes emitting in the near infrared (NIR) region are ideal for low back-ground in vivo imaging. Biocompatibility of nanoparticles, containing toxic elements, is debated. Recent safety concerns enforced the search for alternative ultrastable luminescent nanoprobes. Most recent results demonstrated that optimized silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) and fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) show almost no photobleaching in a physiological environment. Moreover in vitro and in vivo toxicity studies demonstrated their unique biocompatibility. Si QDs and FNDs are hence ideal diagnostic tools and promising non-toxic vectors for the delivery of therapeutic cargos. Most relevant examples of applications of Si QDs and FNDs to long-term bioimaging are discussed in this review comparing the toxicity and the stability of different nanoprobes.

  16. Quantum dot devices for optical communications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mørk, Jesper

    2005-01-01

    -low threshold currents and amplifiers with record-high power levels. In this tutorial we will review the basic properties of quantum dots, emphasizing the properties which are important for laser and amplifier applications, as well as devices for all-optical signal processing. The high-speed properties....... The main property of semiconductor quantum dots compared to bulk material or even quantum well structures is the discrete nature of the allowed states, which means that inversion of the medium can be obtained for very low electron densities. This has led to the fabrication of quantum dot lasers with record...

  17. Quantum dot-induced viral capsid assembling in dissociation buffer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gao D

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Ding Gao,1,2 Zhi-Ping Zhang,1 Feng Li,3 Dong Men,1 Jiao-Yu Deng,1 Hong-Ping Wei,1 Xian-En Zhang,1 Zong-Qiang Cui1 1State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 2Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 3Division of Nanobiomedicine and i-Lab, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, People's Republic of China Abstract: Viruses encapsulating inorganic nanoparticles are a novel type of nanostructure with applications in biomedicine and biosensors. However, the encapsulation and assembly mechanisms of these hybridized virus-based nanoparticles (VNPs are still unknown. In this article, it was found that quantum dots (QDs can induce simian virus 40 (SV40 capsid assembly in dissociation buffer, where viral capsids should be disassembled. The analysis of the transmission electron microscope, dynamic light scattering, sucrose density gradient centrifugation, and cryo-electron microscopy single particle reconstruction experimental results showed that the SV40 major capsid protein 1 (VP1 can be assembled into ≈25 nm capsids in the dissociation buffer when QDs are present and that the QDs are encapsulated in the SV40 capsids. Moreover, it was determined that there is a strong affinity between QDs and the SV40 VP1 proteins (KD = 2.19E-10 M, which should play an important role in QD encapsulation in the SV40 viral capsids. This study provides a new understanding of the assembly mechanism of SV40 virus-based nanoparticles with QDs, which may help in the design and construction of other similar virus-based nanoparticles. Keywords: quantum dots, simian virus 40, self-assembly, encapsulation, virus-based nanoparticles

  18. Optimal tunneling enhances the quantum photovoltaic effect in double quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Chen; Cao, Jianshu; Ren, Jie

    2014-01-01

    We investigate the quantum photovoltaic effect in double quantum dots by applying the nonequilibrium quantum master equation. A drastic suppression of the photovoltaic current is observed near the open circuit voltage, which leads to a large filling factor. We find that there always exists an optimal inter-dot tunneling that significantly enhances the photovoltaic current. Maximal output power will also be obtained around the optimal inter-dot tunneling. Moreover, the open circuit voltage behaves approximately as the product of the eigen-level gap and the Carnot efficiency. These results suggest a great potential for double quantum dots as efficient photovoltaic devices

  19. Protease-activated quantum dot probes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Emmanuel; Miller, Jordan S.; Sun, Jiantang; Yu, William W.; Colvin, Vicki L.; Drezek, Rebekah; West, Jennifer L.

    2005-01-01

    We have developed a novel nanoparticulate luminescent probe with inherent signal amplification upon interaction with a targeted proteolytic enzyme. This construct may be useful for imaging in cancer detection and diagnosis. In this system, quantum dots (QDs) are bound to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) via a proteolytically degradable peptide sequence to non-radiatively suppress luminescence. A 71% reduction in luminescence was achieved with conjugation of AuNPs to QDs. Release of AuNPs by peptide cleavage restores radiative QD photoluminescence. Initial studies observed a 52% rise in luminescence over 47 h of exposure to 0.2 mg/mL collagenase. These probes can be customized for targeted degradation simply by changing the sequence of the peptide linker

  20. Performance enhancement of quantum dot-sensitized solar cells based on polymer nano-composite catalyst

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seo, Hyunwoong; Gopi, Chandu V.V.M.; Kim, Hee-Je; Itagaki, Naho; Koga, Kazunori; Shiratani, Masaharu

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: •We studied polymer nano-composite containing TiO 2 nano-particles as a catalyst. •Polymer nano-composite was applied for quantum dot-sensitized solar cells. •Polymer nano-composite catalyst was considerably improved with TiO 2 nano-particles. •Polymer nano-composite showed higher photovoltaic performance than conventional Au. -- Abstract: Polymer nano-composite composed of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly (styrenesulfonate) and TiO 2 nano-particles was deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate and applied as an alternative to Au counter electrode of quantum dot-sensitized solar cell (QDSC). It became surface-richer with the increase in nano-particle amount so that catalytic reaction was increased by widened catalytic interface. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry clearly demonstrated the enhancement of polymer nano-composite counter electrode. A QDSC based on polymer nano-composite counter electrode showed 0.56 V of V OC , 12.24 mA cm −2 of J SC , 0.57 of FF, and 3.87% of efficiency and this photovoltaic performance was higher than that of QDSC based on Au counter electrode (3.75%).

  1. Quantum transport in a ring of quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sena Junior, Marcone I.; Macedo, Antonio M.C. [Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, PE (Brazil). Dept. de Fisica

    2012-07-01

    Full text: Quantum dots play a central role in the recent technological efforts to build efficient devices to storage, process and transmit information in the quantum regime [1]. One of the reasons for this interest is the relative simplicity with which its control parameters can be changed by experimentalists. Systems with one, two and even arrays of quantum dots have been intensively studied with respect to their efficiency in processing information carried by charge, spin and heat [1]. A particularly useful realization of a quantum dot is a ballistic electron cavity formed by electrostatic potentials in a two-dimensional electron gas. In the chaotic regime, the shape of the dot is statistically irrelevant and the ability to change its form via external gates can be used to generate members of an ensemble of identical systems. From a theoretical point of view, such quantum dots are ideal electron systems in which to study theoretical models combining phase-coherence, chaotic dynamics and Coulomb interactions. In this work, we use the Keldysh non-linear sigma model [2] with a counting field to study electron transport through a ring of four chaotic quantum dots pierced by an Aharonov-Bohm flux. This system is particularly well suited for studying ways to use the weak-localization effect to process quantum information. We derive the quantum circuit equations for this system from the saddle-point condition of the Keldysh action. The results are used to build the action of the corresponding supersymmetric (SUSY) non-linear sigma model. The connection with the random scattering matrix approach is then made via the color-flavor transformation. In the perturbative regime, where weak-localization effects appear, the Keldysh, SUSY and random scattering matrix approaches can be compared by means of independent analytical calculations. We conclude by pointing out the many advantages of our unified approach. [1] For a review, see Yu. V. Nazarov, and Ya. M. Blanter, Quantum

  2. Quantum dot systems: artificial atoms with tunable properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weis, J.

    2005-01-01

    Full text: Quantum dots - also called zero-dimensional electron systems or artificial atoms - are physical objects where the constituent electrons are confined in a small spatial region, leading to discrete eigenvalues for the energies of the confined electrons. Large quantum dots offer a dense energy spectrum comparable to that of metallic grains, whereas small quantum dots more closely resemble atoms in their electronic properties. Quantum dots can be linked to leads by tunnel barriers, hence permitting electrical transport measurements: Coulomb blockade and single-electron charging effects are observed due to the repulsive electron electron interaction on the quantum dot site. Usually fabricated by conventional semiconductor growth and processing technology, the advantage is that both simple and also more complex quantum dot systems can be designed to purpose, acting as model systems with in-situ tunable parameters such as the number of confined electrons in the quantum dot and the strength of the tunnel coupling to the leads, electrostatically controlled by the applied voltages to gate electrodes. With increasing the tunnel coupling to the leads, the virtual occupation of the quantum dot from the leads becomes more and more important -- the simple description of electrical transport by single-electron tunneling events breaks down. The basic physics is described by the Kondo physics based on the Anderson impurity model. A system consisting of strongly electrostatically coupled quantum dots with separate leads to each quantum dot represent another realization of the Anderson impurity model. Experiments to verify the analogy are presented. The experimental data embedded within this tutorial have been obtained with Alexander Huebel, Matthias Keller, Joerg Schmid, David Quirion, Armin Welker, Ulf Wilhelm, and Klaus von Klitzing. (author)

  3. Spin current through quantum-dot spin valves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, J; Xing, D Y

    2006-01-01

    We report a theoretical study of the influence of the Coulomb interaction on the equilibrium spin current in a quantum-dot spin valve, in which the quantum dot described by the Anderson impurity model is coupled to two ferromagnetic leads with noncollinear magnetizations. In the Kondo regime, electrons transmit through the quantum dot via higher-order virtual processes, in which the spin of either lead electrons or a localized electron on the quantum dot may reverse. It is found that the magnitude of the spin current decreases with increasing Coulomb interactions due to spin flip effects on the dot. However, the spatial direction of the spin current remains unchanged; it is determined only by the exchange coupling between two noncollinear magnetizations

  4. Specific detection of Vibrio parahaemolyticus by fluorescence quenching immunoassay based on quantum dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ling; Zhang, Junxian; Bai, Haili; Li, Xuan; Lv, Pintian; Guo, Ailing

    2014-07-01

    In this study, anti-Vibrio parahaemolyticus polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies were prepared through intradermal injection immune and lymphocyte hybridoma technique respectively. CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized at pH 9.3, 98 °C for 1 h with stabilizer of 2.7:1. The fluorescence intensity was 586.499, and the yield was 62.43%. QD probes were successfully prepared under the optimized conditions of pH 7.4, 37 °C for 1 h, 250 μL of 50 mg/mL EDC · HCl, 150 μL of 4 mg/mL NHS, buffer system of Na2HPO4-citric acid, and 8 μL of 2.48 mg/mL polyclonal antibodies. As gold nanoparticles could quench fluorescence of quantum dots, the concentration of V. parahaemolyticus could be detected through measuring the reduction of fluorescence intensity in immune sandwich reaction composed of quantum dot probe, gold-labeled antibody, and the sample. For pure culture, fluorescence intensity of the system was proportional with logarithm concentration of antigen, and the correlation coefficient was 99.764%. The fluorescence quenching immunoassay based on quantum dots is established for the first time to detect Vibrio parahaemolyticus. This method may be used as rapid testing procedure due to its high simplicity and sensitivity.

  5. Colloidal Quantum-Dot Photodetectors Exploiting Multiexciton Generation

    KAUST Repository

    Sukhovatkin, V.

    2009-06-18

    Multiexciton generation (MEG) has been indirectly observed in colloidal quantum dots, both in solution and the solid state, but has not yet been shown to enhance photocurrent in an optoelectronic device. Here, we report a class of solution-processed photoconductive detectors, sensitive in the ultraviolet, visible, and the infrared, in which the internal gain is dramatically enhanced for photon energies Ephoton greater than 2.7 times the quantum-confined bandgap Ebandgap. Three thin-film devices with different quantum-confined bandgaps (set by the size of their constituent lead sulfide nanoparticles) show enhancement determined by the bandgap-normalized photon energy, Ephoton/Ebandgap, which is a clear signature of MEG. The findings point to a valuable role for MEG in enhancing the photocurrent in a solid-state optoelectronic device. We compare the conditions on carrier excitation, recombination, and transport for photoconductive versus photovoltaic devices to benefit from MEG.

  6. Quantum Dot Photonics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinnischtzke, Laura A.

    We report on several experiments using single excitons confined to single semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). Electric and magnetic fields have previously been used as experimental knobs to understand and control individual excitons in single quantum dots. We realize new ways of electric field control by changing materials and device geometry in the first two experiments with strain-based InAs QDs. A standard Schottky diode heterostructure is demonstrated with graphene as the Schottky gate material, and its performance is bench-marked against a diode with a standard gate material, semi-transparent nickel-chromium (NiCr). This change of materials increases the photon collection rate by eliminating absorption in the metallic NiCr layer. A second set of experiments investigates the electric field response of QDs as a possible metrology source. A linear voltage potential drop in a plane near the QDs is used to describe how the spatially varying voltage profile is also imparted on the QDs. We demonstrate a procedure to map this voltage profile as a preliminary route towards a full quantum sensor array. Lastly, InAs QDs are explored as potential spin-photon interfaces. We describe how a magnetic field is used to realize a reversible exchange of information between light and matter, including a discussion of the polarization-dependence of the photoluminesence, and how that can be linked to the spin of a resident electron or hole. We present evidence of this in two wavelength regimes for InAs quantum dots, and discuss how an external magnetic field informs the spin physics of these 2-level systems. This thesis concludes with the discovery of a new class of quantum dots. As-yet unidentified defect states in single layer tungsten diselenide (WSe 2 ) are shown to host quantum light emission. We explore the spatial extent of electron confinement and tentatively identify a radiative lifetime of 1 ns for these single photon emitters.

  7. Electron correlations in quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tipton, Denver Leonard John

    2001-01-01

    Quantum dot structures confine electrons in a small region of space. Some properties of semiconductor quantum dots, such as the discrete energy levels and shell filling effects visible in addition spectra, have analogies to those of atoms and indeed dots are sometimes referred to as 'artificial atoms'. However, atoms and dots show some fundamental differences due to electron correlations. For real atoms, the kinetic energy of electrons dominates over their mutual Coulomb repulsion energy and for this reason the independent electron approximation works well. For quantum dots the confining potential may be shallower than that of real atoms leading to lower electron densities and a dominance of mutual Coulomb repulsion over kinetic energy. In this strongly correlated regime the independent electron picture leads to qualitatively incorrect results. This thesis concentrates on few-electron quantum dots in the strongly correlated regime both for quasi-one-dimensional and two-dimensional dots in a square confining potential. In this so-called 'Wigner' regime the ground-state electronic charge density is localised near positions of classical electrostatic minima and the interacting electronic spectrum consists of well separated spin multiplets. In the strongly correlated regime the structure of low-energy multiplets is explained by mapping onto lattice models with extended-Hubbard and Heisenberg effective Hamiltonians. The parameters for these effective models are calculated within a Hartree approximation and are shown to reproduce well the exact results obtained by numerical diagonalisation of the full interacting Hamiltonian. Comparison is made between square dots and quantum rings with full rotational symmetry. In the very low-density regime, direct diagonalisation becomes impractical due to excessive computer time for convergence. In this regime a numerical renormalisation group method is applied to one-dimensional dots, enabling effective spin-interactions to be

  8. Colloidal PbSe quantum dot-solution-filled liquid-core optical fiber for 1.55 μm telecommunication wavelengths

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Lei; Zhang, Yu; Yu, William W; Gu, Pengfei; Wang, Yiding; Kershaw, Steve V; Wang, Yu; Rogach, Andrey L; Zhao, Yanhui; Jiang, Yongheng; Zhang, Tieqiang; Zhang, Hanzhuang

    2014-01-01

    We have studied the optical properties of PbSe colloidal quantum dot-solution filled hollow core multimode silica waveguides as a function of quantum dot-solution concentration, waveguide length, optical pump power and choice of organic solvent in order to establish the conditions to maximize near infrared spontaneous emission intensities. The optical performance was compared and showed good agreement with a simple three level system model for the quantum dots confined in an optical waveguide. Near infrared absorption-free solvent of tetrachlorethylene was confirmed to be a good candidate for the waveguide medium due to the enhancement of output intensity from the liquid-core fiber compared to the performance in toluene-based fiber. This approach demonstrates a useful method for early characterization of quantum dot materials in a waveguide test-bed with minimal material processing on the colloidal nanoparticles. (paper)

  9. Highly luminescent CdSe/ZnSe core-shell quantum dots of one-pot preparation in octadecene

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zeng, Q.; Kong, X.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, H.

    2008-01-01

    CdSe/ZnSe core-shell quantum dots were synthesized using a new one-pot procedure where the core was prepared in octadecene. A ZnSe shell around a CdSe nanoparticle was formed by the reaction of selenium-richness on the surfaces of CdSe nanoparticles with Zn2+ from the injected zinc stearate

  10. Bright infrared LEDs based on colloidal quantum-dots

    KAUST Repository

    Sun, Liangfeng; Choi, Joshua J.; Stachnik, David; Bartnik, Adam C.; Hyun, Byung-Ryool; Malliaras, George G.; Hanrath, Tobias; Wise, Frank W.

    2013-01-01

    Record-brightness infrared LEDs based on colloidal quantum-dots have been achieved through control of the spacing between adjacent quantum-dots. By tuning the size of quantum-dots, the emission wavelengths can be tuned between 900nm and 1650nm. © 2013 Materials Research Society.

  11. High quantum yield ZnO quantum dots synthesizing via an ultrasonication microreactor method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Weimin; Yang, Huafang; Ding, Wenhao; Zhang, Bing; Zhang, Le; Wang, Lixi; Yu, Mingxun; Zhang, Qitu

    2016-11-01

    Green emission ZnO quantum dots were synthesized by an ultrasonic microreactor. Ultrasonic radiation brought bubbles through ultrasonic cavitation. These bubbles built microreactor inside the microreactor. The photoluminescence properties of ZnO quantum dots synthesized with different flow rate, ultrasonic power and temperature were discussed. Flow rate, ultrasonic power and temperature would influence the type and quantity of defects in ZnO quantum dots. The sizes of ZnO quantum dots would be controlled by those conditions as well. Flow rate affected the reaction time. With the increasing of flow rate, the sizes of ZnO quantum dots decreased and the quantum yields first increased then decreased. Ultrasonic power changed the ultrasonic cavitation intensity, which affected the reaction energy and the separation of the solution. With the increasing of ultrasonic power, sizes of ZnO quantum dots first decreased then increased, while the quantum yields kept increasing. The effect of ultrasonic temperature on the photoluminescence properties of ZnO quantum dots was influenced by the flow rate. Different flow rate related to opposite changing trend. Moreover, the quantum yields of ZnO QDs synthesized by ultrasonic microreactor could reach 64.7%, which is higher than those synthesized only under ultrasonic radiation or only by microreactor. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Influence of surface states of CuInS{sub 2} quantum dots in quantum dots sensitized photo-electrodes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peng, Zhuoyin; Liu, Yueli [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070 (China); Wu, Lei [School of Electronic and Electrical, Wuhan Railway Vocational College of Technology, Wuhan 430205 (China); Zhao, Yinghan; Chen, Keqiang [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070 (China); Chen, Wen, E-mail: chenw@whut.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070 (China)

    2016-12-01

    Graphical abstract: J–V curves of different ligands capped CuInS{sub 2} QDs sensitized TiO{sub 2} photo-electrodes. - Highlights: • DDT, OLA, MPA, and S{sup 2−} ligand capped CuInS{sub 2} quantum dot sensitized photo-electrodes are prepared. • Surface states of quantum dots greatly influence the electrochemical performance of CuInS{sub 2} quantum dot sensitized photo-electrodes. • S{sup 2−} ligand enhances the UV–vis absorption and electron–hole separation property as well as the excellent charge transfer performance of the photo-electrodes. - Abstract: Surface states are significant factor for the enhancement of electrochemical performance in CuInS{sub 2} quantum dot sensitized photo-electrodes. DDT, OLA, MPA, and S{sup 2−} ligand capped CuInS{sub 2} quantum dot sensitized photo-electrodes are prepared by thermolysis, solvethermal and ligand-exchange processes, respectively, and their optical properties and photoelectrochemical properties are investigated. The S{sup 2−} ligand enhances the UV–vis absorption and electron–hole separation property as well as the excellent charge transfer performance of the photo-electrodes, which is attributed to the fact that the atomic S{sup 2−} ligand for the interfacial region of quantum dots may improve the electron transfer rate. These S{sup 2−}-capped CuInS{sub 2} quantum dot sensitized photo-electrodes exhibit the excellent photoelectrochemical efficiency and IPCE peak value, which is higher than that of the samples with DDT, OLA and MPA ligands.

  13. Near-field strong coupling of single quantum dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groß, Heiko; Hamm, Joachim M; Tufarelli, Tommaso; Hess, Ortwin; Hecht, Bert

    2018-03-01

    Strong coupling and the resultant mixing of light and matter states is an important asset for future quantum technologies. We demonstrate deterministic room temperature strong coupling of a mesoscopic colloidal quantum dot to a plasmonic nanoresonator at the apex of a scanning probe. Enormous Rabi splittings of up to 110 meV are accomplished by nanometer-precise positioning of the quantum dot with respect to the nanoresonator probe. We find that, in addition to a small mode volume of the nanoresonator, collective coherent coupling of quantum dot band-edge states and near-field proximity interaction are vital ingredients for the realization of near-field strong coupling of mesoscopic quantum dots. The broadband nature of the interaction paves the road toward ultrafast coherent manipulation of the coupled quantum dot-plasmon system under ambient conditions.

  14. Sizes of water-soluble luminescent quantum dots measured by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Pudun; Li Liang; Dong Chaoqing; Qian Huifeng; Ren Jicun

    2005-01-01

    In this paper, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) was applied to measure the size of water-soluble quantum dots (QDs). The measurements were performed on a home-built FCS system based on the Stokes-Einstein equation. The obtained results showed that for bare CdTe QDs the sizes from FCS were larger than the ones from transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The brightness of QDs was also evaluated using FCS technique. It was found that the stability of the surface chemistry of QDs would be significantly improved by capping it with hard-core shell. Our data demonstrated that FCS is a simple, fast, and effective method for characterizing the fluorescent quantum dots, and is especially suitable for determining the fluorescent nanoparticles less than 10 nm in water solution

  15. Electronically Active Impurities in Colloidal Quantum Dot Solids

    KAUST Repository

    Carey, Graham H.

    2014-11-25

    © 2014 American Chemical Society. Colloidal quantum dot films have seen rapid progress as active materials in photodetection, light emission, and photovoltaics. Their processing from the solution phase makes them an attractive option for these applications due to the expected cost reductions associated with liquid-phase material deposition. Colloidally stable nanoparticles capped using long, insulating aliphatic ligands are used to form semiconducting, insoluble films via a solid-state ligand exchange in which the original ligands are replaced with short bifunctional ligands. Here we show that this ligand exchange can have unintended and undesired side effects: a high molecular weight complex can form, containing both lead oleate and the shorter conductive ligand, and this poorly soluble complex can end up embedded within the colloidal quantum dot (CQD) active layer. We further show that, by adding an acidic treatment during film processing, we can break up and wash away these complexes, producing a higher quality CQD solid. The improved material leads to photovoltaic devices with reduced series resistance and enhanced fill factor relative to controls employing previously reported CQD solids. (Figure Presented).

  16. Electronically Active Impurities in Colloidal Quantum Dot Solids

    KAUST Repository

    Carey, Graham H.; Kramer, Illan J.; Kanjanaboos, Pongsakorn; Moreno-Bautista, Gabriel; Voznyy, Oleksandr; Rollny, Lisa; Tang, Joel A.; Hoogland, Sjoerd; Sargent, Edward H.

    2014-01-01

    © 2014 American Chemical Society. Colloidal quantum dot films have seen rapid progress as active materials in photodetection, light emission, and photovoltaics. Their processing from the solution phase makes them an attractive option for these applications due to the expected cost reductions associated with liquid-phase material deposition. Colloidally stable nanoparticles capped using long, insulating aliphatic ligands are used to form semiconducting, insoluble films via a solid-state ligand exchange in which the original ligands are replaced with short bifunctional ligands. Here we show that this ligand exchange can have unintended and undesired side effects: a high molecular weight complex can form, containing both lead oleate and the shorter conductive ligand, and this poorly soluble complex can end up embedded within the colloidal quantum dot (CQD) active layer. We further show that, by adding an acidic treatment during film processing, we can break up and wash away these complexes, producing a higher quality CQD solid. The improved material leads to photovoltaic devices with reduced series resistance and enhanced fill factor relative to controls employing previously reported CQD solids. (Figure Presented).

  17. Optical and structural properties of ensembles of colloidal Ag{sub 2}S quantum dots in gelatin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ovchinnikov, O. V., E-mail: Ovchinnikov-O-V@rambler.ru; Smirnov, M. S. [Voronezh State University (Russian Federation); Shapiro, B. I. [Moscow State University of Fine Chemical Technologies (Russian Federation); Shatskikh, T. S.; Perepelitsa, A. S.; Korolev, N. V. [Voronezh State University (Russian Federation)

    2015-03-15

    The size dependences of the absorption and luminescence spectra of ensembles of hydrophilic colloidal Ag{sub 2}S quantum dots produced by the sol-gel method and dispersed in gelatin are analyzed. By X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy, the formation of core/shell nanoparticles is detected. The characteristic feature of the nanoparticles is the formation of crystalline cores, 1.5–2.0 nm in dimensions, and shells of gelatin and its complexes with the components of synthesis. The observed slight size dependence of the position of infrared photoluminescence bands (in the range 1000–1400 nm) in the ensembles of hydrophilic colloidal Ag{sub 2}S quantum dots is explained within the context of the model of the radiative recombination of electrons localized at structural and impurity defects with free holes.

  18. Exploring Graphene Quantum Dots/TiO2 interface in photoelectrochemical reactions: Solar to fuel conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sudhagar, Pitchaimuthu; Herraiz-Cardona, Isaac; Park, Hun; Song, Taesup; Noh, Seung Hyun; Gimenez, Sixto; Sero, Ivan Mora; Fabregat-Santiago, Francisco; Bisquert, Juan; Terashima, Chiaki; Paik, Ungyu; Kang, Yong Soo

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Low dimension ∼5 nm graphene quantum dots nanoparticles were synthesized using chemical exfoliation method. • One dimensional TiO 2 hallow nanowire is grown directly onto conducting substrates using ZnO nanowire as sacrificial template. • The merits of optical properties of the graphene quantum dots sensitizer with the transport properties of the host 1-D TiO 2 nanowire were combined and demonstrate as photoanode in photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation. • A photocurrent enhancement of ∼70% at pristine TiO 2 by graphene quantum dots was achieved through photoelectrocatalytic water oxidation using sacrificial-free electrolyte. • The underlying mechanism of photocharge carrier transfer characteristics at graphene quantum dots/TiO 2 interface is studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. - Abstract: Photocarrier (e − /h + ) generation at low dimension graphene quantum dots offers multifunctional applications including bioimaging, optoelectronics and energy conversion devices. In this context, graphene quantum dots onto metal oxide electron transport layer finds great deal of attention in solar light driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen fuel generation. The merits of combining tailored optical properties of the graphene quantum dots sensitizer with the transport properties of the host wide band gap one dimensional nanostructured semiconductor provide a platform for high charge collection which promotes catalytic proton reduction into fuel generation at PEC cells. However, understanding the underlying mechanism of photocarrier transfer characteristics at graphene quantum dots/metal oxide interface during operation is often difficult as graphene quantum dots may have a dual role as sensitizer and catalyst. Therefore, exploring photocarrier generation and injection at graphene quantum dot/metal oxide heterointerfaces in contact with hole scavenging electrolyte afford a new pathway in developing graphene quantum dots based

  19. Hydrazinonicotinamide prolongs quantum dot circulation and reduces reticuloendothelial system clearance by suppressing opsonization and phagocyte engulfment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Kyung-Ho; Park, Jin Won; Paik, Jin-Young; Lee, Eun Jeong; Choe, Yearn Seong; Lee, Kyung-Han

    2012-12-01

    In this study, we investigated the effects of hydrazinonicotinamide (HYNIC)—a bifunctional crosslinker widely used to 99mTc radiolabel protein and nanoparticles for imaging studies—on quantum dot opsonization, macrophage engulfment and in vivo kinetics. In streptavidin-coated quantum dots (SA-QDots), conjugation with HYNIC increased the net negative charge without affecting the zeta potential. Confocal microscopy and fluorescence-activated cell sorting showed HYNIC attachment to suppress SA-QDot engulfment by macrophages. Furthermore, HYNIC conjugation suppressed surface opsonization by serum protein including IgG. When intravenously injected into mice, HYNIC conjugation significantly prolonged the circulation of SA-QDots and reduced their hepatosplenic uptake. Diminished reticuloendothelial system clearance of SA-QDots and aminoPEG-QDots by HYNIC conjugation was also demonstrated by in vivo and ex vivo optical imaging. The effects of HYNIC on the opsonization, phagocytosis and in vivo kinetics of quantum dots were reversed by removal of the hydrazine component from HYNIC. Thus, surface functionalization with HYNIC can improve the in vivo kinetics of quantum dots by reducing phagocytosis via suppression of surface opsonization.

  20. Bacterial Interactions with CdSe Quantum Dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holden, P.; Nadeau, J. L.; Kumar, A.; Clarke, S.; Priester, J. H.; Stucky, G. D.

    2007-12-01

    Cadmium selenide quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor nanoparticles that are manufactured for biomedical imaging, photovoltaics, and other applications. While metallic nanoparticles can be made biotically by bacteria and fungi, and thus occur in nature, the fate of either natural or engineered QDs and relationships to nanoparticle size, conjugate and biotic conditions are mostly unknown. Working with several different bacterial strains and QDs of different sizes and conjugate chemistries, including QDs synthesized by a Fusarium fungal strain, we show that QDs can enter cells through specfic receptor-mediated processes, that QDs are broken down by bacteria during cell association, and that toxicity to cells is much like that imposed by Cd(II) ions. The mechanisms of entry and toxicity are not fully understood, but preliminary evidence suggests that electron transfer between cells and QDs occurs. Also, cell membranes are compromised, indicating oxidative stress is occurring. Results with planktonic and biofilm bacteria are similar, but differently, biofilms tend to accumulate Cd(II) associated with QD treatments.

  1. Wannier-Frenkel hybrid exciton in organic-semiconductor quantum dot heterostructures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Birman, Joseph L.; Huong, Nguyen Que

    2007-01-01

    The formation of a hybridization state of Wannier Mott exciton and Frenkel exciton in different hetero-structure configurations involving quantum dots is investigated. The hybrid excitons exist at the interfaces of the semiconductors quantum dots and the organic medium, having unique properties and a large optical non-linearity. The coupling at resonance is very strong and tunable by changing the parameters of the systems (dot radius, dot-dot distance, generation of the organic dendrites and the materials of the system etc...). Different semiconductor quantum dot-organic material combination systems have been considered such as a semiconductor quantum dot lattice embedded in an organic host, a semiconductor quantum dot at the center of an organic dendrite, a semiconductor quantum dot coated by an organic shell

  2. Scintillation properties of quantum-dot doped styrene based plastic scintillators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, J.M.; Kim, H.J.; Hwang, Y.S.; Kim, D.H.; Park, H.W.

    2014-01-01

    We fabricated quantum-dot doped plastic scintillators in order to control the emission wavelength. We studied the characterization of the quantum-dots (CdSe/ZnS) and PPO (2, 5-diphenyloxazole) doped styrene based plastic scintillators. PPO is usually used as a dopant to enhance the scintillation properties of organic scintillators with a maximum emission wavelength of 380 nm. In order to study the scintillation properties of the quantum-dots doped plastic scintillators, the samples were irradiated with X-ray, photon, and 45 MeV proton beams. We observed that only PPO doped plastic scintillators shows a luminescence peak around 380 nm. However, both the quantum-dots and PPO doped plastic scintillators shows luminescence peaks around 380 nm and 520 nm. Addition of quantum-dots had shifted the luminescence spectrum from 380 nm (PPO) toward the region of 520 nm (Quantum-dots). Emissions with wavelength controllable plastic scintillators can be matched to various kinds of photosensors such as photomultiplier tubes, photo-diodes, avalanche photo-diodes, and CCDs, etc. Also quantum-dots doped plastic scintillator, which is irradiated 45 MeV proton beams, shows that the light yield of quantum-dots doped plastic scintillator is increases as quantum-dots doping concentration increases at 520 nm. And also the plastic scintillators were irradiated with Cs-137 γ-ray for measuring fluorescence decay time. -- Highlights: • Quantum-dot doped plastic scintillator is grown by the thermal polymerization method. • Quantum-dot doped plastic scintillators can control the emission wavelength to match with photo-sensor. • Quantum-dots and PPO doped plastic scintillators emitted luminescence peaks around 380 nm and 520 nm. • We observed the energy transfer from PPO to quantum-dot in the quantum-dot doped plastic scintillator

  3. Scintillation properties of quantum-dot doped styrene based plastic scintillators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, J.M.; Kim, H.J., E-mail: hongjooknu@gmail.com; Hwang, Y.S.; Kim, D.H.; Park, H.W.

    2014-02-15

    We fabricated quantum-dot doped plastic scintillators in order to control the emission wavelength. We studied the characterization of the quantum-dots (CdSe/ZnS) and PPO (2, 5-diphenyloxazole) doped styrene based plastic scintillators. PPO is usually used as a dopant to enhance the scintillation properties of organic scintillators with a maximum emission wavelength of 380 nm. In order to study the scintillation properties of the quantum-dots doped plastic scintillators, the samples were irradiated with X-ray, photon, and 45 MeV proton beams. We observed that only PPO doped plastic scintillators shows a luminescence peak around 380 nm. However, both the quantum-dots and PPO doped plastic scintillators shows luminescence peaks around 380 nm and 520 nm. Addition of quantum-dots had shifted the luminescence spectrum from 380 nm (PPO) toward the region of 520 nm (Quantum-dots). Emissions with wavelength controllable plastic scintillators can be matched to various kinds of photosensors such as photomultiplier tubes, photo-diodes, avalanche photo-diodes, and CCDs, etc. Also quantum-dots doped plastic scintillator, which is irradiated 45 MeV proton beams, shows that the light yield of quantum-dots doped plastic scintillator is increases as quantum-dots doping concentration increases at 520 nm. And also the plastic scintillators were irradiated with Cs-137 γ-ray for measuring fluorescence decay time. -- Highlights: • Quantum-dot doped plastic scintillator is grown by the thermal polymerization method. • Quantum-dot doped plastic scintillators can control the emission wavelength to match with photo-sensor. • Quantum-dots and PPO doped plastic scintillators emitted luminescence peaks around 380 nm and 520 nm. • We observed the energy transfer from PPO to quantum-dot in the quantum-dot doped plastic scintillator.

  4. Electric and Magnetic Interaction between Quantum Dots and Light

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tighineanu, Petru

    argue that there is ample room for improving the oscillator strength with prospects for approaching the ultra-strong-coupling regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics with optical photons. These outstanding gures of merit render interface-uctuation quantum dots excellent candidates for use in cavity...... quantum electrodynamics and quantum-information science. We investigate exciton localization in droplet-epitaxy quantum dots by conducting spectral and time-resolved measurements. We nd small excitons despite the large physical size of dropletepitaxy quantum dots, which is attributed to material inter......The present thesis reports research on the optical properties of quantum dots by developing new theories and conducting optical measurements. We demonstrate experimentally singlephoton superradiance in interface-uctuation quantum dots by recording the temporal decay dynamics in conjunction...

  5. Coherence and dephasing in self-assembled quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hvam, Jørn Märcher; Leosson, K.; Birkedal, Dan

    2003-01-01

    We measured dephasing times in InGaAl/As self-assembled quantum dots at low temperature using degenerate four-wave mixing. At 0K, the coherence time of the quantum dots is lifetime limited, whereas at finite temperatures pure dephasing by exciton-phonon interactions governs the quantum dot...

  6. Fluorometric immunoassay for human serum albumin based on its inhibitory effect on the immunoaggregation of quantum dots with silver nanoparticles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marukhyan, Seda S.; Gasparyan, Vardan K.

    2017-02-01

    Quantitative determination of HSA was conducted by competitive immunoassay. Inhibition of aggregation of antibody conjugated quantum dots (QD) with albumin conjugated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in the presence of HSA was conducted. If antibody-loaded CdSe QDs aggregate with HSA-coated silver nanoparticles the distance between the two kinds of nanoparticles will be reduced enough to cause fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). In this case the yellow fluorescence of the Ab-QDs is quenched. However if HSA (antigen) is added to the Ab-QDs their surface will be blocked and they cannot aggregate any longer with the HSA-AgNPs. Hence, fluorescence will not be quenched. The drop of the intensity of fluorescence (peaking at 570 nm) is inversely correlated with the concentration of HSA in the sample. The method allows to determine HSA in the 30-600 ng·mL-1 concentration range.

  7. Thick-shell nanocrystal quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hollingsworth, Jennifer A [Los Alamos, NM; Chen, Yongfen [Eugene, OR; Klimov, Victor I [Los Alamos, NM; Htoon, Han [Los Alamos, NM; Vela, Javier [Los Alamos, NM

    2011-05-03

    Colloidal nanocrystal quantum dots comprising an inner core having an average diameter of at least 1.5 nm and an outer shell, where said outer shell comprises multiple monolayers, wherein at least 30% of the quantum dots have an on-time fraction of 0.80 or greater under continuous excitation conditions for a period of time of at least 10 minutes.

  8. Tunable single quantum dot nanocavities for cavity QED experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaniber, M; Laucht, A; Neumann, A; Bichler, M; Amann, M-C; Finley, J J

    2008-01-01

    We present cavity quantum electrodynamics experiments performed on single quantum dots embedded in two-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavities. We begin by describing the structural and optical properties of the quantum dot sample and the photonic crystal nanocavities and compare the experimental results with three-dimensional calculations of the photonic properties. The influence of the tailored photonic environment on the quantum dot spontaneous emission dynamics is studied using spectrally and spatially dependent time-resolved spectroscopy. In ensemble and single dot measurements we show that the photonic crystals strongly enhance the photon extraction efficiency and, therefore, are a promising concept for realizing efficient single-photon sources. Furthermore, we demonstrate single-photon emission from an individual quantum dot that is spectrally detuned from the cavity mode. The need for controlling the spectral dot-cavity detuning is discussed on the basis of shifting either the quantum dot emission via temperature tuning or the cavity mode emission via a thin film deposition technique. Finally, we discuss the recently discovered non-resonant coupling mechanism between quantum dot emission and cavity mode for large detunings which drastically lowers the purity of single-photon emission from dots that are spectrally coupled to nanocavity modes.

  9. Fast synthesize ZnO quantum dots via ultrasonic method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Weimin; Zhang, Bing; Ding, Nan; Ding, Wenhao; Wang, Lixi; Yu, Mingxun; Zhang, Qitu

    2016-05-01

    Green emission ZnO quantum dots were synthesized by an ultrasonic sol-gel method. The ZnO quantum dots were synthesized in various ultrasonic temperature and time. Photoluminescence properties of these ZnO quantum dots were measured. Time-resolved photoluminescence decay spectra were also taken to discover the change of defects amount during the reaction. Both ultrasonic temperature and time could affect the type and amount of defects in ZnO quantum dots. Total defects of ZnO quantum dots decreased with the increasing of ultrasonic temperature and time. The dangling bonds defects disappeared faster than the optical defects. Types of optical defects first changed from oxygen interstitial defects to oxygen vacancy and zinc interstitial defects. Then transformed back to oxygen interstitial defects again. The sizes of ZnO quantum dots would be controlled by both ultrasonic temperature and time as well. That is, with the increasing of ultrasonic temperature and time, the sizes of ZnO quantum dots first decreased then increased. Moreover, concentrated raw materials solution brought larger sizes and more optical defects of ZnO quantum dots. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Optical localization of quantum dots in tapered nanowires

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Østerkryger, Andreas Dyhl; Gregersen, Niels; Fons, Romain

    2017-01-01

    In this work we have measured the far-field emission patterns of In As quantum dots embedded in a GaAs tapered nanowire and used an open-geometry Fourier modal method for determining the radial position of the quantum dots by computing the far-field emission pattern for different quantum dot...

  11. Detection of CdSe quantum dot photoluminescence for security label on paper

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Isnaeni,, E-mail: isnaeni@lipi.go.id; Sugiarto, Iyon Titok [Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Science, Building 442 Puspiptek Serpong, South Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia 15314 (Indonesia); Bilqis, Ratu; Suseno, Jatmiko Endro [Department of Physics, Diponegoro University, Jl. Prof. Soedarto, Tembalang, Semarang, Indonesia 50275 (Indonesia)

    2016-02-08

    CdSe quantum dot has great potential in various applications especially for emitting devices. One example potential application of CdSe quantum dot is security label for anti-counterfeiting. In this work, we present a practical approach of security label on paper using one and two colors of colloidal CdSe quantum dot, which is used as stamping ink on various types of paper. Under ambient condition, quantum dot is almost invisible. The quantum dot security label can be revealed by detecting emission of quantum dot using photoluminescence and cnc machine. The recorded quantum dot emission intensity is then analyzed using home-made program to reveal quantum dot pattern stamp having the word ’RAHASIA’. We found that security label using quantum dot works well on several types of paper. The quantum dot patterns can survive several days and further treatment is required to protect the quantum dot. Oxidation of quantum dot that occurred during this experiment reduced the emission intensity of quantum dot patterns.

  12. Semiconductor Quantum Dots with Photoresponsive Ligands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sansalone, Lorenzo; Tang, Sicheng; Zhang, Yang; Thapaliya, Ek Raj; Raymo, Françisco M; Garcia-Amorós, Jaume

    2016-10-01

    Photochromic or photocaged ligands can be anchored to the outer shell of semiconductor quantum dots in order to control the photophysical properties of these inorganic nanocrystals with optical stimulations. One of the two interconvertible states of the photoresponsive ligands can be designed to accept either an electron or energy from the excited quantum dots and quench their luminescence. Under these conditions, the reversible transformations of photochromic ligands or the irreversible cleavage of photocaged counterparts translates into the possibility to switch luminescence with external control. As an alternative to regulating the photophysics of a quantum dot via the photochemistry of its ligands, the photochemistry of the latter can be controlled by relying on the photophysics of the former. The transfer of excitation energy from a quantum dot to a photocaged ligand populates the excited state of the species adsorbed on the nanocrystal to induce a photochemical reaction. This mechanism, in conjunction with the large two-photon absorption cross section of quantum dots, can be exploited to release nitric oxide or to generate singlet oxygen under near-infrared irradiation. Thus, the combination of semiconductor quantum dots and photoresponsive ligands offers the opportunity to assemble nanostructured constructs with specific functions on the basis of electron or energy transfer processes. The photoswitchable luminescence and ability to photoinduce the release of reactive chemicals, associated with the resulting systems, can be particularly valuable in biomedical research and can, ultimately, lead to the realization of imaging probes for diagnostic applications as well as to therapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer.

  13. Excitonic quantum interference in a quantum dot chain with rings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Suc-Kyoung; Nam, Seog Woo; Yeon, Kyu-Hwang

    2008-04-16

    We demonstrate excitonic quantum interference in a closely spaced quantum dot chain with nanorings. In the resonant dipole-dipole interaction model with direct diagonalization method, we have found a peculiar feature that the excitation of specified quantum dots in the chain is completely inhibited, depending on the orientational configuration of the transition dipole moments and specified initial preparation of the excitation. In practice, these excited states facilitating quantum interference can provide a conceptual basis for quantum interference devices of excitonic hopping.

  14. Discrete quantum Fourier transform in coupled semiconductor double quantum dot molecules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong Ping; Yang Ming; Cao Zhuoliang

    2008-01-01

    In this Letter, we present a physical scheme for implementing the discrete quantum Fourier transform in a coupled semiconductor double quantum dot system. The main controlled-R gate operation can be decomposed into many simple and feasible unitary transformations. The current scheme would be a useful step towards the realization of complex quantum algorithms in the quantum dot system

  15. Exciton in type-II quantum dot

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sierra-Ortega, J; Escorcia, R A [Universidad del Magdalena, A. A. 731, Santa Marta (Colombia); Mikhailov, I D, E-mail: jsierraortega@gmail.co [Universidad Industrial de Santander, A. A. 678, Bucaramanga (Colombia)

    2009-05-01

    We study the quantum-size effect and the influence of the external magnetic field on the exciton ground state energy in the type-II InP quantum disk, lens and pyramid deposited on a wetting layer and embedded in a GaInP matrix. We show that the charge distribution over and below quantum dot and wetting layer induced by trapped exciton strongly depends on the quantum dot morphology and the strength of the magnetic field.

  16. A dual-mode nanosensor based on carbon quantum dots and gold nanoparticles for discriminative detection of glutathione in human plasma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Yupeng; Pan, Yi; Zhang, Heng; Zhang, Zhaomin; Li, Mei-Jin; Yi, Changqing; Yang, Mengsu

    2014-06-15

    Glutathione (GSH) plays key roles in biological systems and serves many cellular functions. Since biothiols all incorporate thiol, carboxylic and amino groups, discriminative detection of GSH over cysteine (Cys) and homocysteine (Hcy) is still challenging. We herein report a dual-mode nanosensor with both colorimetric and fluorometric readout based on carbon quantum dots and gold nanoparticles for discriminative detection of GSH over Cys/Hcy. The proposed sensing system consists of AuNPs and fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs), where CQDs function as fluorometric reporter, and AuNPs serve a dual function as colorimetric reporter and fluorescence quencher. The mechanism of the nanosensor is based on two distance-dependent phenomenons, color change of AuNPs and FRET. Through controlling the surface properties of as-prepared nanoparticles, the addition of CQDs into AuNPs colloid solution might induce the aggregation of AuNPs and CQDs, leading to AuNPs color changing from red to blue and CQDs fluorescence quench. However, the presence of GSH can protect AuNPs from being aggregated and enlarge the inter-particle distance, which subsequently produces color change and fluorescent signal recovery. The nanosensor described in this report reflects on its simplicity and flexibility, where no further surface functionalization is required for the as-prepared nanoparticles, leading to less laborious and more cost-effective synthesis. The proposed dual-mode nanosensor demonstrated highly selectivity toward GSH, and allows the detection of GSH as low as 50 nM. More importantly, the nanosensor could not only function in aqueous solution for GSH detection with high sensitivity but also exhibit sensitive responses toward GSH in complicated biological environments, demonstrating its potential in bioanalysis and biodection, which might be significant in disease diagnosis in the future. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Ubiquitous quantum dot-sensitized nanoporous film for hydrogen production under visible-light irradiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miyauchi, Masahiro, E-mail: mmiyauchi@ceram.titech.ac.jp [Department of Metallurgy and Ceramics Science, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552 (Japan); JST, PRESTO, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012 (Japan); Shiga, Yuhiro; Srinivasan, Nagarajan; Atarashi, Daiki; Sakai, Etsuo [Department of Metallurgy and Ceramics Science, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552 (Japan)

    2015-06-15

    To develop the efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production device, tin monosulfide (SnS) quantum dots (QDs) were deposited onto a nanoporous TiO{sub 2} electrode by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. When Pt nanoparticles as co-catalysts were modified at the interface between the electroconductive glass substrate and nanoporous SnS QDs/TiO{sub 2} layer, hydrogen molecules were produced under visible-light irradiation without applying a bias potential. In addition, the size and color of SnS QDs could be tailored using SILAR method, and the optimal structure of the SnS QDs was determined for efficient photocurrent generation and hydrogen production. The photocatalysis device developed in the present study was constructed as a simple single plate consisting of non-toxic elements. - Highlights: • Unique photo-electrochemical thin film device without application of a bias potential. • Non-toxic and inexpensive SnS quantum dot for visible-light harvesting. • Tailored SnS quantum dots using the SILAR method for efficient hydrogen production.

  18. Controllability of multi-partite quantum systems and selective excitation of quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schirmer, S G; Pullen, I C H; Solomon, A I

    2005-01-01

    We consider the degrees of controllability of multi-partite quantum systems, as well as necessary and sufficient criteria for each case. The results are applied to the problem of simultaneous control of an ensemble of quantum dots with a single laser pulse. Finally, we apply optimal control techniques to demonstrate selective excitation of individual dots for a simultaneously controllable ensemble of quantum dots

  19. The effect of near laterally and vertically neighboring quantum dots on the composition of uncapped InxGa1−xAs/GaAs quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donglin, Wang; Zhongyuan, Yu; Yumin, Liu; Han, Ye; Pengfei, Lu; Xiaotao, Guo; Long, Zhao; Xia, Xin

    2010-01-01

    The composition of quantum dots has a direct effect on the optical and electronic properties of quantum-dot-based devices. In this paper, we combine the method of moving asymptotes and finite element tools to compute the composition distribution by minimizing the Gibbs free energy of quantum dots, and use this method to study the effect of near laterally and vertically neighboring quantum dots on the composition distribution. The simulation results indicate that the effect from the laterally neighboring quantum dot is very small, and the vertically neighboring quantum dot can significantly influence the composition by the coupled strain field

  20. Aptamer-Modified Semiconductor Quantum Dots for Biosensing Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wen, Lin; Qiu, Liping; Wu, Yongxiang; Hu, Xiaoxiao; Zhang, Xiaobing

    2017-07-28

    Semiconductor quantum dots have attracted extensive interest in the biosensing area because of their properties, such as narrow and symmetric emission with tunable colors, high quantum yield, high stability and controllable morphology. The introduction of various reactive functional groups on the surface of semiconductor quantum dots allows one to conjugate a spectrum of ligands, antibodies, peptides, or nucleic acids for broader and smarter applications. Among these ligands, aptamers exhibit many advantages including small size, high chemical stability, simple synthesis with high batch-to-batch consistency and convenient modification. More importantly, it is easy to introduce nucleic acid amplification strategies and/or nanomaterials to improve the sensitivity of aptamer-based sensing systems. Therefore, the combination of semiconductor quantum dots and aptamers brings more opportunities in bioanalysis. Here we summarize recent advances on aptamer-functionalized semiconductor quantum dots in biosensing applications. Firstly, we discuss the properties and structure of semiconductor quantum dots and aptamers. Then, the applications of biosensors based on aptamer-modified semiconductor quantum dots by different signal transducing mechanisms, including optical, electrochemical and electrogenerated chemiluminescence approaches, is discussed. Finally, our perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in this promising field are provided.

  1. Aptamer-Modified Semiconductor Quantum Dots for Biosensing Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Wen

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Semiconductor quantum dots have attracted extensive interest in the biosensing area because of their properties, such as narrow and symmetric emission with tunable colors, high quantum yield, high stability and controllable morphology. The introduction of various reactive functional groups on the surface of semiconductor quantum dots allows one to conjugate a spectrum of ligands, antibodies, peptides, or nucleic acids for broader and smarter applications. Among these ligands, aptamers exhibit many advantages including small size, high chemical stability, simple synthesis with high batch-to-batch consistency and convenient modification. More importantly, it is easy to introduce nucleic acid amplification strategies and/or nanomaterials to improve the sensitivity of aptamer-based sensing systems. Therefore, the combination of semiconductor quantum dots and aptamers brings more opportunities in bioanalysis. Here we summarize recent advances on aptamer-functionalized semiconductor quantum dots in biosensing applications. Firstly, we discuss the properties and structure of semiconductor quantum dots and aptamers. Then, the applications of biosensors based on aptamer-modified semiconductor quantum dots by different signal transducing mechanisms, including optical, electrochemical and electrogenerated chemiluminescence approaches, is discussed. Finally, our perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in this promising field are provided.

  2. Aptamer-conjugated dendrimer-modified quantum dots for glioblastoma cells imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Zhiming; Huang Peng; He Rong; Bao Chenchen; Cui Daxiang; Zhang Xiaomin; Ren Qiushi

    2009-01-01

    Targeted quantum dots have shown potential as a platform for development of cancer imaging. Aptamers have recently been demonstrated as ideal candidates for molecular targeting applications. In present work, polyamidoamine dendrimers were used to modify surface of quantum dots and improve their solubility in water solution. Then, dendrimer-modified quantum dots were conjugated with DNA aptamer, GBI-10, can recognize the extracellular matrix protein tenascin-C on the surface of human glioblastoma cells. The dendrimer-modified quantum dots exhibit water-soluble, high quantum yield, and good biocompatibility. Aptamer-conjugated quantum dots can specifically target U251 human glioblastoma cells. High-performance aptamer-conjugated dendrimers modified quantum dot-based nanoprobes have great potential in application such as cancer imaging.

  3. Double quantum dot as a minimal thermoelectric generator

    OpenAIRE

    Donsa, S.; Andergassen, S.; Held, K.

    2014-01-01

    Based on numerical renormalization group calculations, we demonstrate that experimentally realized double quantum dots constitute a minimal thermoelectric generator. In the Kondo regime, one quantum dot acts as an n-type and the other one as a p-type thermoelectric device. Properly connected the double quantum dot provides a miniature power supply utilizing the thermal energy of the environment.

  4. Circularly organized quantum dot nanostructures of Ge on Si substrates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cai, Qijia; Chen, Peixuan; Zhong, Zhenyang; Jiang, Zuimin; Lu, Fang; An, Zhenghua

    2009-01-01

    A novel circularly arranged structure of germanium quantum dots has been fabricated by combining techniques including electron beam lithography, wet etching and molecular beam epitaxy. It was observed that both pattern and growth parameters affect the morphology of the quantum dot molecules. Meanwhile, the oxidation mask plays a vital role in the formation of circularly organized quantum dots. The experimental results demonstrate the possibilities of investigating the properties of quantum dot molecules as well as single quantum dots

  5. Application of CuInS{sub 2} and ZnO nanoparticles in colloidal quantum dot photovoltaics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scheunemann, Dorothea; Wilken, Sebastian; Frevert, Katja; Witt, Florian; Borchert, Holger; Parisi, Juergen [University of Oldenburg, Department of Physics, Energy and Semiconductor Research Laboratory, 26111 Oldenburg (Germany)

    2013-07-01

    Colloidal quantum dots (CQD) are attractive for photovoltaics because of their solution processability and spectral tunability due to quantum size effects. Rapid advances in CQD photovoltaics in the recent years have led to high power conversion efficiencies. Previous works mainly focused on highly toxic materials containing cadmium or lead which might limit their possible application. One promising alternative material is CuInS{sub 2} (CIS) which has shown attractive device performance in thin film solar cells. Here, we present solution processed CIS nanoparticles as absorber layer in nanocrystal based solar cells. In order to achieve efficient charge separation we use a heterojunction based on a bilayer structure of CIS and intrinsically n-doped ZnO nanocrystals. One issue in thin film photovoltaics is the optimization of the absorber thickness, taking into account light absorption as well as charge carrier collection. Therefore, we determined the absorption coefficient and transport properties which can serve as input parameters into an electro-optical simulation in order to determine the optimal absorber thickness.

  6. Electron-longitudinal-acoustic-phonon scattering in double-quantum-dot based quantum gates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Peiji; Woolard, Dwight L.

    2008-01-01

    We propose a nanostructure design which can significantly suppress longitudinal-acoustic-phonon-electron scattering in double-quantum-dot based quantum gates for quantum computing. The calculated relaxation rates vs. bias voltage exhibit a double-peak feature with a minimum approaching 10 5 s -1 . In this matter, the energy conservation law prohibits scattering contributions from phonons with large momenta; furthermore, increasing the barrier height between the double quantum dots reduces coupling strength between the dots. Hence, the joint action of the energy conservation law and the decoupling greatly reduces the scattering rates. The degrading effects of temperatures can be reduced simply by increasing the height of the barrier between the dots

  7. Photoluminescence studies of single InGaAs quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leosson, Kristjan; Jensen, Jacob Riis; Hvam, Jørn Märcher

    1999-01-01

    Semiconductor quantum dots are considered a promising material system for future optical devices and quantum computers. We have studied the low-temperature photoluminescence properties of single InGaAs quantum dots embedded in GaAs. The high spatial resolution required for resolving single dots...... to resolve luminescence lines from individual quantum dots, revealing an atomic-like spectrum of sharp transition lines. A parameter of fundamental importance is the intrinsic linewidth of these transitions. Using high-resolution spectroscopy we have determined the linewidth and investigated its dependence...... on temperature, which gives information about how the exciton confined to the quantum dot interacts with the surrounding lattice....

  8. Optical Properties of Semiconductor Quantum Dots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Perinetti, U.

    2011-01-01

    This thesis presents different optical experiments performed on semiconductor quantum dots. These structures allow to confine a small number of electrons and holes to a tiny region of space, some nm across. The aim of this work was to study the basic properties of different types of quantum dots

  9. Advancements in the Field of Quantum Dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mishra, Sambeet; Tripathy, Pratyasha; Sinha, Swami Prasad.

    2012-08-01

    Quantum dots are defined as very small semiconductor crystals of size varying from nanometer scale to a few micron i.e. so small that they are considered dimensionless and are capable of showing many chemical properties by virtue of which they tend to be lead at one minute and gold at the second minute.Quantum dots house the electrons just the way the electrons would have been present in an atom, by applying a voltage. And therefore they are very judiciously given the name of being called as the artificial atoms. This application of voltage may also lead to the modification of the chemical nature of the material anytime it is desired, resulting in lead at one minute to gold at the other minute. But this method is quite beyond our reach. A quantum dot is basically a semiconductor of very tiny size and this special phenomenon of quantum dot, causes the band of energies to change into discrete energy levels. Band gaps and the related energy depend on the relationship between the size of the crystal and the exciton radius. The height and energy between different energy levels varies inversely with the size of the quantum dot. The smaller the quantum dot, the higher is the energy possessed by it.There are many applications of the quantum dots e.g. they are very wisely applied to:Light emitting diodes: LEDs eg. White LEDs, Photovoltaic devices: solar cells, Memory elements, Biology : =biosensors, imaging, Lasers, Quantum computation, Flat-panel displays, Photodetectors, Life sciences and so on and so forth.The nanometer sized particles are able to display any chosen colour in the entire ultraviolet visible spectrum through a small change in their size or composition.

  10. Silicon Quantum Dots with Counted Antimony Donor Implants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singh, Meenakshi [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies; Pacheco, Jose L. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies; Perry, Daniel Lee [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies; Garratt, E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies; Ten Eyck, Gregory A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies; Wendt, Joel R. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies; Manginell, Ronald P. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies; Luhman, Dwight [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies; Bielejec, Edward S. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies; Lilly, Michael [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies; Carroll, Malcolm S. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies

    2015-10-01

    Deterministic control over the location and number of donors is crucial to donor spin quantum bits (qubits) in semiconductor based quantum computing. A focused ion beam is used to implant close to quantum dots. Ion detectors are integrated next to the quantum dots to sense the implants. The numbers of ions implanted can be counted to a precision of a single ion. Regular coulomb blockade is observed from the quantum dots. Charge offsets indicative of donor ionization, are observed in devices with counted implants.

  11. Induced spin-accumulation and spin-polarization in a quantum-dot ring by using magnetic quantum dots and Rashba spin-orbit effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eslami, L.; Faizabadi, E.

    2014-01-01

    The effect of magnetic contacts on spin-dependent electron transport and spin-accumulation in a quantum ring, which is threaded by a magnetic flux, is studied. The quantum ring is made up of four quantum dots, where two of them possess magnetic structure and other ones are subjected to the Rashba spin-orbit coupling. The magnetic quantum dots, referred to as magnetic quantum contacts, are connected to two external leads. Two different configurations of magnetic moments of the quantum contacts are considered; the parallel and the anti-parallel ones. When the magnetic moments are parallel, the degeneracy between the transmission coefficients of spin-up and spin-down electrons is lifted and the system can be adjusted to operate as a spin-filter. In addition, the accumulation of spin-up and spin-down electrons in non-magnetic quantum dots are different in the case of parallel magnetic moments. When the intra-dot Coulomb interaction is taken into account, we find that the electron interactions participate in separation between the accumulations of electrons with different spin directions in non-magnetic quantum dots. Furthermore, the spin-accumulation in non-magnetic quantum dots can be tuned in the both parallel and anti-parallel magnetic moments by adjusting the Rashba spin-orbit strength and the magnetic flux. Thus, the quantum ring with magnetic quantum contacts could be utilized to create tunable local magnetic moments which can be used in designing optimized nanodevices.

  12. Principles of conjugating quantum dots to proteins via carbodiimide chemistry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song Fayi; Chan, Warren C W

    2011-01-01

    The covalent coupling of nanomaterials to bio-recognition molecules is a critical intermediate step in using nanomaterials for biology and medicine. Here we investigate the carbodiimide-mediated conjugation of fluorescent quantum dots to different proteins (e.g., immunoglobulin G, bovine serum albumin, and horseradish peroxidase). To enable these studies, we developed a simple method to isolate quantum dot bioconjugates from unconjugated quantum dots. The results show that the reactant concentrations and protein type will impact the overall number of proteins conjugated onto the surfaces of the quantum dots, homogeneity of the protein–quantum dot conjugate population, quantum efficiency, binding avidity, and enzymatic kinetics. We propose general principles that should be followed for the successful coupling of proteins to quantum dots.

  13. The electronic properties of semiconductor quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barker, J.A.

    2000-10-01

    This work is an investigation into the electronic behaviour of semiconductor quantum dots, particularly self-assembled quantum dot arrays. Processor-efficient models are developed to describe the electronic structure of dots, deriving analytic formulae for the strain tensor, piezoelectric distribution and diffusion- induced evolution of the confinement potential, for dots of arbitrary initial shape and composition profile. These models are then applied to experimental data. Transitions due to individual quantum dots have a narrow linewidth as a result of their discrete density of states. By contrast, quantum dot arrays exhibit inhomogeneous broadening which is generally attributed to size variations between the individual dots in the ensemble. Interpreting the results of double resonance spectroscopy, it is seen that variation in the indium composition of the nominally InAs dots is also present. This result also explains the otherwise confusing relationship between the spread in the ground-state and excited-state transition energies. Careful analysis shows that, in addition to the variations in size and composition, some other as yet unidentified broadening mechanism must also be present. The influence of rapid thermal annealing on dot electronic structure is also considered, finding that the experimentally observed blue-shift and narrowing of the photoluminescence linewidth may both be explained in terms of normal In/Ga interdiffusion. InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots are commonly assumed to have a pyramidal geometry, so that we would expect the energy separation of the ground-state electron and hole levels in the dot to be largest at a positive applied field. This should also be the case for any dot of uniform composition whose shape tapers inwards from base to top, counter to the results of experimental Stark-shift spectroscopy which show a peak transition energy at a negative applied field. It is demonstrated that this inversion of the ground state

  14. Spin Switching via Quantum Dot Spin Valves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gergs, N. M.; Bender, S. A.; Duine, R. A.; Schuricht, D.

    2018-01-01

    We develop a theory for spin transport and magnetization dynamics in a quantum dot spin valve, i.e., two magnetic reservoirs coupled to a quantum dot. Our theory is able to take into account effects of strong correlations. We demonstrate that, as a result of these strong correlations, the dot gate voltage enables control over the current-induced torques on the magnets and, in particular, enables voltage-controlled magnetic switching. The electrical resistance of the structure can be used to read out the magnetic state. Our model may be realized by a number of experimental systems, including magnetic scanning-tunneling microscope tips and artificial quantum dot systems.

  15. Record Charge Carrier Diffusion Length in Colloidal Quantum Dot Solids via Mutual Dot-To-Dot Surface Passivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carey, Graham H; Levina, Larissa; Comin, Riccardo; Voznyy, Oleksandr; Sargent, Edward H

    2015-06-03

    Through a combination of chemical and mutual dot-to-dot surface passivation, high-quality colloidal quantum dot solids are fabricated. The joint passivation techniques lead to a record diffusion length for colloidal quantum dots of 230 ± 20 nm. The technique is applied to create thick photovoltaic devices that exhibit high current density without losing fill factor. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  16. Spin-based all-optical quantum computation with quantum dots: Understanding and suppressing decoherence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calarco, T.; Datta, A.; Fedichev, P.; Zoller, P.; Pazy, E.

    2003-01-01

    We present an all-optical implementation of quantum computation using semiconductor quantum dots. Quantum memory is represented by the spin of an excess electron stored in each dot. Two-qubit gates are realized by switching on trion-trion interactions between different dots. State selectivity is achieved via conditional laser excitation exploiting Pauli exclusion principle. Read out is performed via a quantum-jump technique. We analyze the effect on our scheme's performance of the main imperfections present in real quantum dots: exciton decay, hole mixing, and phonon decoherence. We introduce an adiabatic gate procedure that allows one to circumvent these effects and evaluate quantitatively its fidelity

  17. Transport through a vibrating quantum dot: Polaronic effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koch, T; Alvermann, A; Fehske, H; Loos, J; Bishop, A R

    2010-01-01

    We present a Green's function based treatment of the effects of electron-phonon coupling on transport through a molecular quantum dot in the quantum limit. Thereby we combine an incomplete variational Lang-Firsov approach with a perturbative calculation of the electron-phonon self energy in the framework of generalised Matsubara Green functions and a Landauer-type transport description. Calculating the ground-state energy, the dot single-particle spectral function and the linear conductance at finite carrier density, we study the low-temperature transport properties of the vibrating quantum dot sandwiched between metallic leads in the whole electron-phonon coupling strength regime. We discuss corrections to the concept of an anti-adiabatic dot polaron and show how a deformable quantum dot can act as a molecular switch.

  18. Coherent transport through interacting quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hiltscher, Bastian

    2012-10-05

    The present thesis is composed of four different works. All deal with coherent transport through interacting quantum dots, which are tunnel-coupled to external leads. There a two main motivations for the use of quantum dots. First, they are an ideal device to study the influence of strong Coulomb repulsion, and second, their discrete energy levels can easily be tuned by external gate electrodes to create different transport regimes. The expression of coherence includes a very wide range of physical correlations and, therefore, the four works are basically independent of each other. Before motivating and introducing the different works in more detail, we remark that in all works a diagrammatic real-time perturbation theory is used. The fermionic degrees of freedom of the leads are traced out and the elements of the resulting reduced density matrix can be treated explicitly by means of a generalized master equation. How this equation is solved, depends on the details of the problem under consideration. In the first of the four works adiabatic pumping through an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer with a quantum dot embedded in each of the two arms is studied. In adiabatic pumping transport is generated by varying two system parameters periodically in time. We consider the two dot levels to be these two pumping parameters. Since they are located in different arms of the interferometer, pumping is a quantum mechanical effect purely relying on coherent superpositions of the dot states. It is very challenging to identify a quantum pumping mechanism in experiments, because a capacitive coupling of the gate electrodes to the leads may yield an undesired AC bias voltage, which is rectified by a time dependent conductance. Therefore, distinguishing features of these two transport mechanisms are required. We find that the dependence on the magnetic field is the key feature. While the pumped charge is an odd function of the magnetic flux, the rectified current is even, at least in

  19. Coherent transport through interacting quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hiltscher, Bastian

    2012-01-01

    The present thesis is composed of four different works. All deal with coherent transport through interacting quantum dots, which are tunnel-coupled to external leads. There a two main motivations for the use of quantum dots. First, they are an ideal device to study the influence of strong Coulomb repulsion, and second, their discrete energy levels can easily be tuned by external gate electrodes to create different transport regimes. The expression of coherence includes a very wide range of physical correlations and, therefore, the four works are basically independent of each other. Before motivating and introducing the different works in more detail, we remark that in all works a diagrammatic real-time perturbation theory is used. The fermionic degrees of freedom of the leads are traced out and the elements of the resulting reduced density matrix can be treated explicitly by means of a generalized master equation. How this equation is solved, depends on the details of the problem under consideration. In the first of the four works adiabatic pumping through an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer with a quantum dot embedded in each of the two arms is studied. In adiabatic pumping transport is generated by varying two system parameters periodically in time. We consider the two dot levels to be these two pumping parameters. Since they are located in different arms of the interferometer, pumping is a quantum mechanical effect purely relying on coherent superpositions of the dot states. It is very challenging to identify a quantum pumping mechanism in experiments, because a capacitive coupling of the gate electrodes to the leads may yield an undesired AC bias voltage, which is rectified by a time dependent conductance. Therefore, distinguishing features of these two transport mechanisms are required. We find that the dependence on the magnetic field is the key feature. While the pumped charge is an odd function of the magnetic flux, the rectified current is even, at least in

  20. PREFACE: Quantum Dot 2010

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Robert A.

    2010-09-01

    These conference proceedings contain the written papers of the contributions presented at Quantum Dot 2010 (QD2010). The conference was held in Nottingham, UK, on 26-30 April 2010. The conference addressed topics in research on: 1. Epitaxial quantum dots (including self-assembled and interface structures, dots defined by electrostatic gates etc): optical properties and electron transport quantum coherence effects spin phenomena optics of dots in cavities interaction with surface plasmons in metal/semiconductor structures opto-electronics applications 2. Novel QD structures: fabrication and physics of graphene dots, dots in nano-wires etc 3. Colloidal quantum dots: growth (shape control and hybrid nanocrystals such as metal/semiconductor, magnetic/semiconductor) assembly and surface functionalisation optical properties and spin dynamics electrical and magnetic properties applications (light emitting devices and solar cells, biological and medical applications, data storage, assemblers) The Editors Acknowledgements Conference Organising Committee: Maurice Skolnick (Chair) Alexander Tartakovskii (Programme Chair) Pavlos Lagoudakis (Programme Chair) Max Migliorato (Conference Secretary) Paola Borri (Publicity) Robert Taylor (Proceedings) Manus Hayne (Treasurer) Ray Murray (Sponsorship) Mohamed Henini (Local Organiser) International Advisory Committee: Yasuhiko Arakawa (Tokyo University, Japan) Manfred Bayer (Dortmund University, Germany) Sergey Gaponenko (Stepanov Institute of Physics, Minsk, Belarus) Pawel Hawrylak (NRC, Ottawa, Canada) Fritz Henneberger (Institute for Physics, Berlin, Germany) Atac Imamoglu (ETH, Zurich, Switzerland) Paul Koenraad (TU Eindhoven, Nethehrlands) Guglielmo Lanzani (Politecnico di Milano, Italy) Jungil Lee (Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Korea) Henri Mariette (CNRS-CEA, Grenoble, France) Lu Jeu Sham (San Diego, USA) Andrew Shields (Toshiba Research Europe, Cambridge, UK) Yoshihisa Yamamoto (Stanford University, USA) Artur

  1. Fully Transparent Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diode with a Laminated Top Graphene Anode.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Li; Fang, Xin; Gu, Wei; Zhai, Wenhao; Wan, Yi; Xie, Xixi; Xu, Wanjin; Pi, Xiaodong; Ran, Guangzhao; Qin, Guogang

    2017-07-19

    A new method to employ graphene as top electrode was introduced, and based on that, fully transparent quantum dot light-emitting diodes (T-QLEDs) were successfully fabricated through a lamination process. We adopted the widely used wet transfer method to transfer bilayer graphene (BG) on polydimethylsiloxane/polyethylene terephthalate (PDMS/PET) substrate. The sheet resistance of graphene reduced to ∼540 Ω/□ through transferring BG for 3 times on the PDMS/PET. The T-QLED has an inverted device structure of glass/indium tin oxide (ITO)/ZnO nanoparticles/(CdSSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs))/1,1-bis[(di-4-tolylamino)phenyl] cyclohexane (TAPC)/MoO 3 /graphene/PDMS/PET. The graphene anode on PDMS/PET substrate can be directly laminated on the MoO 3 /TAPC/(CdSSe/ZnS QDs)/ZnO nanoparticles/ITO/glass, which relied on the van der Waals interaction between the graphene/PDMS and the MoO 3 . The transmittance of the T-QLED is 79.4% at its main electroluminescence peak wavelength of 622 nm.

  2. Spectroscopy of Charged Quantum Dot Molecules

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stinaff, E. A.; Scheibner, M.; Bracker, A. S.; Ponomarev, I. V.; Ware, M. E.; Doty, M. F.; Reinecke, T. L.; Gammon, D.; Korenev, V. L.

    2006-03-01

    Spins of single charges in quantum dots are attractive for many quantum information and spintronic proposals. Scalable quantum information applications require the ability to entangle and operate on multiple spins in coupled quantum dots (CQDs). To further the understanding of these systems, we present detailed spectroscopic studies of InAs CQDs with control of the discrete electron or hole charging of the system. The optical spectrum reveals a pattern of energy anticrossings and crossings in the photoluminescence as a function of applied electric field. These features can be understood as a superposition of charge and spin configurations of the two dots and represent clear signatures of quantum mechanical coupling. The molecular resonance leading to these anticrossings is achieved at different electric fields for the optically excited (trion) states and the ground (hole) states allowing for the possibility of using the excited states for optically induced coupling of the qubits.

  3. Research Progress of Photoanodes for Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LI Zhi-min

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the development status and tendency of quantum dot sensitized solar cells. Photoanode research progress and its related technologies are analyzed in detail from the three ways of semiconductor thin films, quantum dot co-sensitization and quantum dot doping, deriving from the approach that the conversion efficiency can be improved by photoanode modification for quantum dot sensitized solar cells. According to the key factors which restrict the cell efficiency, the promising future development of quantum dot sensitized solar cells is proposed,for example,optimizing further the compositions and structures of semiconductor thin films for the photoanodes, exploring new quantum dots with broadband absorption and developing high efficient techniques of interface modification.

  4. Core–shell Fe3O4–Au magnetic nanoparticles based nonenzymatic ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence immunosensor using quantum dots functionalized graphene sheet as labels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Weiyan; Zhang, Yan; Ge, Shenguang; Song, Xianrang; Huang, Jiadong; Yan, Mei; Yu, Jinghua

    2013-01-01

    Graphical abstract: Core–shell Fe 3 O 4 –Au magnetic nanoparticles and P-GS@QDs were prepared to immobilize Ab 1 and Ab 2 respectively and combined to fabricate a novel sandwich-type ECL immunosensor for detecting CA125 at low concentration. Highlights: ► ECL immunosensor for CA125 based on a microfluidic strategy with a homemade ECL cell was proposed. ► Core–shell Fe 3 O 4 –Au magnetic nanoparticles were employed as the carriers of the primary antibodies. ► CdTe quantum dots functionalized graphene sheet were used for signal amplification. -- Abstract: In this paper, a novel, low-cost electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor using core–shell Fe 3 O 4 –Au magnetic nanoparticles (AuMNPs) as the carriers of the primary antibody of carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) was designed. Graphene sheet (GS) with property of good conductivity and large surface area was a captivating candidate to amplify ECL signal. We successively synthesized functionalized GS by loading large amounts of quantum dots (QDs) onto the poly (diallyldimethyl-ammonium chloride) (PDDA) coated graphene sheet (P-GS@QDs) via self-assembly electrostatic reactions, which were used to label secondary antibodies. The ECL immunosensors coupled with a microfluidic strategy exhibited a wide detection range (0.005–50 U mL −1 ) and a low detection limit (1.2 mU mL −1 ) with the help of an external magnetic field to gather immunosensors. The method was evaluated with clinical serum sample, receiving good correlation with results from commercially available analytical procedure

  5. A high-throughput homogeneous immunoassay based on Förster resonance energy transfer between quantum dots and gold nanoparticles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qian, Jing; Wang, Chengquan; Pan, Xiaohu; Liu, Songqin

    2013-01-01

    Graphical abstract: A Förster resonance energy transfer system by using polyclonal goat anti-CEA antibody labeled luminescent CdTe quantum dots (QDs) as donor and monoclonal goat anti-CEA antibody labeled gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as acceptor for sensitive detection of tumor marker was proposed. Highlights: ► A homogeneous immunosensing strategy based on FRET for detection of tumor marker was proposed. ► Close of QDs and AuNPs allow the occurrence of quenching the photoluminescence of nano-bio-probes. ► Signal quenching was monitored by a self-developed image analyzer. ► The fluorometric assay format is attractive for widespread carcinoma screening and even field use. -- Abstract: A novel homogeneous immunoassay based on Förster resonance energy transfer for sensitive detection of tumor, e.g., marker with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), was proposed. The assay was consisted of polyclonal goat anti-CEA antibody labeled luminescent CdTe quantum dots (QDs) as donor and monoclonal goat anti-CEA antibody labeled gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as acceptor. In presence of CEA, the bio-affinity between antigen and antibody made the QDs and AuNPs close enough, thus the photoluminescence (PL) quenching of CdTe QDs occurred. The PL properties could be transformed into the fluorometric variation, corresponding to the target antigen concentration, and could be easily monitored and analyzed with the home-made image analysis software. The fluorometric results indicated a linear detection range of 1–110 ng mL −1 for CEA, with a detection limit of 0.3 ng mL −1 . The proposed assay configuration was attractive for carcinoma screening or single sample in point-of-care testing, and even field use. In spite of the limit of available model analyte, this approach could be easily extended to detection of a wide range of biomarkers

  6. A high-throughput homogeneous immunoassay based on Förster resonance energy transfer between quantum dots and gold nanoparticles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qian, Jing [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189 (China); School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhengjiang 212013 (China); Wang, Chengquan [Changzhou College of Information Technology, Changzhou 213164 (China); Pan, Xiaohu [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189 (China); Liu, Songqin, E-mail: liusq@seu.edu.cn [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189 (China)

    2013-02-06

    Graphical abstract: A Förster resonance energy transfer system by using polyclonal goat anti-CEA antibody labeled luminescent CdTe quantum dots (QDs) as donor and monoclonal goat anti-CEA antibody labeled gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as acceptor for sensitive detection of tumor marker was proposed. Highlights: ► A homogeneous immunosensing strategy based on FRET for detection of tumor marker was proposed. ► Close of QDs and AuNPs allow the occurrence of quenching the photoluminescence of nano-bio-probes. ► Signal quenching was monitored by a self-developed image analyzer. ► The fluorometric assay format is attractive for widespread carcinoma screening and even field use. -- Abstract: A novel homogeneous immunoassay based on Förster resonance energy transfer for sensitive detection of tumor, e.g., marker with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), was proposed. The assay was consisted of polyclonal goat anti-CEA antibody labeled luminescent CdTe quantum dots (QDs) as donor and monoclonal goat anti-CEA antibody labeled gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as acceptor. In presence of CEA, the bio-affinity between antigen and antibody made the QDs and AuNPs close enough, thus the photoluminescence (PL) quenching of CdTe QDs occurred. The PL properties could be transformed into the fluorometric variation, corresponding to the target antigen concentration, and could be easily monitored and analyzed with the home-made image analysis software. The fluorometric results indicated a linear detection range of 1–110 ng mL{sup −1} for CEA, with a detection limit of 0.3 ng mL{sup −1}. The proposed assay configuration was attractive for carcinoma screening or single sample in point-of-care testing, and even field use. In spite of the limit of available model analyte, this approach could be easily extended to detection of a wide range of biomarkers.

  7. Decoherence and Entanglement Simulation in a Model of Quantum Neural Network Based on Quantum Dots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Altaisky Mikhail V.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We present the results of the simulation of a quantum neural network based on quantum dots using numerical method of path integral calculation. In the proposed implementation of the quantum neural network using an array of single-electron quantum dots with dipole-dipole interaction, the coherence is shown to survive up to 0.1 nanosecond in time and up to the liquid nitrogen temperature of 77K.We study the quantum correlations between the quantum dots by means of calculation of the entanglement of formation in a pair of quantum dots on the GaAs based substrate with dot size of 100 ÷ 101 nanometer and interdot distance of 101 ÷ 102 nanometers order.

  8. Quantum efficiency and oscillator strength of site-controlled InAs quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Albert, F.; Stobbe, Søren; Schneider, C.

    2010-01-01

    We report on time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy to determine the oscillator strength (OS) and the quantum efficiency (QE) of site-controlled InAs quantum dots nucleating on patterned nanoholes. These two quantities are determined by measurements on site-controlled quantum dot (SCQD...

  9. A 2x2 quantum dot array with controllable inter-dot tunnel couplings

    OpenAIRE

    Mukhopadhyay, Uditendu; Dehollain, Juan Pablo; Reichl, Christian; Wegscheider, Werner; Vandersypen, Lieven M. K.

    2018-01-01

    The interaction between electrons in arrays of electrostatically defined quantum dots is naturally described by a Fermi-Hubbard Hamiltonian. Moreover, the high degree of tunability of these systems make them a powerful platform to simulate different regimes of the Hubbard model. However, most quantum dot array implementations have been limited to one-dimensional linear arrays. In this letter, we present a square lattice unit cell of 2$\\times$2 quantum dots defined electrostatically in a AlGaA...

  10. First principles study of edge carboxylated graphene quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdelsalam, Hazem; Elhaes, Hanan; Ibrahim, Medhat A.

    2018-05-01

    The structure stability and electronic properties of edge carboxylated hexagonal and triangular graphene quantum dots are investigated using density functional theory. The calculated binding energies show that the hexagonal clusters with armchair edges have the highest stability among all the quantum dots. The binding energy of carboxylated graphene quantum dots increases by increasing the number of carboxyl groups. Our study shows that the total dipole moment significantly increases by adding COOH with the highest value observed in triangular clusters. The edge states in triangular graphene quantum dots with zigzag edges produce completely different energy spectrum from other dots: (a) the energy gap in triangular zigzag is very small as compared to other clusters and (b) the highest occupied molecular orbital is localized at the edges which is in contrast to other clusters where it is distributed over the cluster surface. The enhanced reactivity and the controllable energy gap by shape and edge termination make graphene quantum dots ideal for various nanodevice applications such as sensors. The infrared spectra are presented to confirm the stability of the quantum dots.

  11. Single-step fabrication of quantum funnels via centrifugal colloidal casting of nanoparticle films

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jin Young; Adinolfi, Valerio; Sutherland, Brandon R.; Voznyy, Oleksandr; Kwon, S. Joon; Kim, Tae Wu; Kim, Jeongho; Ihee, Hyotcherl; Kemp, Kyle; Adachi, Michael; Yuan, Mingjian; Kramer, Illan; Zhitomirsky, David; Hoogland, Sjoerd; Sargent, Edward H.

    2015-01-01

    Centrifugal casting of composites and ceramics has been widely employed to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of functional materials. This powerful method has yet to be deployed in the context of nanoparticles—yet size–effect tuning of quantum dots is among their most distinctive and application-relevant features. Here we report the first gradient nanoparticle films to be constructed in a single step. By creating a stable colloid of nanoparticles that are capped with electronic-conduction-compatible ligands we were able to leverage centrifugal casting for thin-films devices. This new method, termed centrifugal colloidal casting, is demonstrated to form films in a bandgap-ordered manner with efficient carrier funnelling towards the lowest energy layer. We constructed the first quantum-gradient photodiode to be formed in a single deposition step and, as a result of the gradient-enhanced electric field, experimentally measured the highest normalized detectivity of any colloidal quantum dot photodetector. PMID:26165185

  12. Quantum-coherence-assisted tunable on- and off-resonance tunneling through a quantum-dot-molecule dielectric film

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen Jianqi; Zeng Ruixi

    2017-01-01

    Quantum-dot-molecular phase coherence (and the relevant quantum-interference-switchable optical response) can be utilized to control electromagnetic wave propagation via a gate voltage, since quantum-dot molecules can exhibit an effect of quantum coherence (phase coherence) when quantum-dot-molecular discrete multilevel transitions are driven by an electromagnetic wave. Interdot tunneling of carriers (electrons and holes) controlled by the gate voltage can lead to destructive quantum interference in a quantum-dot molecule that is coupled to an incident electromagnetic wave, and gives rise to a quantum coherence effect (e.g., electromagnetically induced transparency, EIT) in a quantum-dot-molecule dielectric film. The tunable on- and off-resonance tunneling effect of an incident electromagnetic wave (probe field) through such a quantum-coherent quantum-dot-molecule dielectric film is investigated. It is found that a high gate voltage can lead to the EIT phenomenon of the quantum-dot-molecular systems. Under the condition of on-resonance light tunneling through the present quantum-dot-molecule dielectric film, the probe field should propagate without loss if the probe frequency detuning is zero. Such an effect caused by both EIT and resonant tunneling, which is sensitive to the gate voltage, can be utilized for designing devices such as photonic switching, transistors, and logic gates. (author)

  13. Intracellular distribution of nontargeted quantum dots after natural uptake and microinjection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damalakiene, Leona; Karabanovas, Vitalijus; Bagdonas, Saulius; Valius, Mindaugas; Rotomskis, Ricardas

    2013-01-01

    Background: The purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanism of natural uptake of nonfunctionalized quantum dots in comparison with microinjected quantum dots by focusing on their time-dependent accumulation and intracellular localization in different cell lines. Methods: The accumulation dynamics of nontargeted CdSe/ZnS carboxyl-coated quantum dots (emission peak 625 nm) was analyzed in NIH3T3, MCF-7, and HepG2 cells by applying the methods of confocal and steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy. Intracellular colocalization of the quantum dots was investigated by staining with Lysotracker®. Results: The uptake of quantum dots into cells was dramatically reduced at a low temperature (4°C), indicating that the process is energy-dependent. The uptake kinetics and imaging of intracellular localization of quantum dots revealed three accumulation stages of carboxyl-coated quantum dots at 37°C, ie, a plateau stage, growth stage, and a saturation stage, which comprised four morphological phases: adherence to the cell membrane; formation of granulated clusters spread throughout the cytoplasm; localization of granulated clusters in the perinuclear region; and formation of multivesicular body-like structures and their redistribution in the cytoplasm. Diverse quantum dots containing intracellular vesicles in the range of approximately 0.5–8 μm in diameter were observed in the cytoplasm, but none were found in the nucleus. Vesicles containing quantum dots formed multivesicular body-like structures in NIH3T3 cells after 24 hours of incubation, which were Lysotracker-negative in serum-free medium and Lysotracker-positive in complete medium. The microinjected quantum dots remained uniformly distributed in the cytosol for at least 24 hours. Conclusion: Natural uptake of quantum dots in cells occurs through three accumulation stages via a mechanism requiring energy. The sharp contrast of the intracellular distribution after microinjection of quantum dots in comparison

  14. Influence of cell-internalization on relaxometric, optical and compositional properties of targeted paramagnetic quantum dot micelles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Starmans, L. W. E.; Kok, M. B.; Sanders, H. M. H. F.; Zhao, Y.; Donegá, C. de Mello; Meijerink, A.; Mulder, W. J. M.; Grüll, H.; Strijkers, G. J.; Nicolay, K.

    2011-01-01

    Quantum dot micelles (pQDs) with a paramagnetic coating are promising nanoparticles for bimodal molecular imaging. Their bright fluorescence allows for optical detection, while their Gd payload enables visualization with contrast-enhanced MRI. A popular approach in molecular MRI is the targeting of

  15. Tuning Single Quantum Dot Emission with a Micromirror.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Gangcheng; Gómez, Daniel; Kirkwood, Nicholas; Mulvaney, Paul

    2018-02-14

    The photoluminescence of single quantum dots fluctuates between bright (on) and dark (off) states, also termed fluorescence intermittency or blinking. This blinking limits the performance of quantum dot-based devices such as light-emitting diodes and solar cells. However, the origins of the blinking remain unresolved. Here, we use a movable gold micromirror to determine both the quantum yield of the bright state and the orientation of the excited state dipole of single quantum dots. We observe that the quantum yield of the bright state is close to unity for these single QDs. Furthermore, we also study the effect of a micromirror on blinking, and then evaluate excitation efficiency, biexciton quantum yield, and detection efficiency. The mirror does not modify the off-time statistics, but it does change the density of optical states available to the quantum dot and hence the on times. The duration of the on times can be lengthened due to an increase in the radiative recombination rate.

  16. Quantum control and process tomography of a semiconductor quantum dot hybrid qubit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Dohun; Shi, Zhan; Simmons, C B; Ward, D R; Prance, J R; Koh, Teck Seng; Gamble, John King; Savage, D E; Lagally, M G; Friesen, Mark; Coppersmith, S N; Eriksson, Mark A

    2014-07-03

    The similarities between gated quantum dots and the transistors in modern microelectronics--in fabrication methods, physical structure and voltage scales for manipulation--have led to great interest in the development of quantum bits (qubits) in semiconductor quantum dots. Although quantum dot spin qubits have demonstrated long coherence times, their manipulation is often slower than desired for important future applications, such as factoring. Furthermore, scalability and manufacturability are enhanced when qubits are as simple as possible. Previous work has increased the speed of spin qubit rotations by making use of integrated micromagnets, dynamic pumping of nuclear spins or the addition of a third quantum dot. Here we demonstrate a qubit that is a hybrid of spin and charge. It is simple, requiring neither nuclear-state preparation nor micromagnets. Unlike previous double-dot qubits, the hybrid qubit enables fast rotations about two axes of the Bloch sphere. We demonstrate full control on the Bloch sphere with π-rotation times of less than 100 picoseconds in two orthogonal directions, which is more than an order of magnitude faster than any other double-dot qubit. The speed arises from the qubit's charge-like characteristics, and its spin-like features result in resistance to decoherence over a wide range of gate voltages. We achieve full process tomography in our electrically controlled semiconductor quantum dot qubit, extracting high fidelities of 85 per cent for X rotations (transitions between qubit states) and 94 per cent for Z rotations (phase accumulation between qubit states).

  17. Controlling the aspect ratio of quantum dots: from columnar dots to quantum rods

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Li, L.; Patriarche, G.; Chauvin, N.J.G.; Ridha, P.; Rossetti, M.; Andrzejewski, J.; Sek, G.; Misiewicz, J.; Fiore, A.

    2008-01-01

    We demonstrate the feasibility and flexibility of artificial shape engineering of epitaxial semiconductor nanostructures. Novel nanostructures including InGaAs quantum rods (QRs), nanocandles, and quantum dots (QDs)-in-rods were realized on a GaAs substrate. They were formed by depositing a

  18. Bright infrared quantum-dot light-emitting diodes through inter-dot spacing control

    KAUST Repository

    Sun, Liangfeng; Choi, Joshua J.; Stachnik, David; Bartnik, Adam C.; Hyun, Byung-Ryool; Malliaras, George G.; Hanrath, Tobias; Wise, Frank W.

    2012-01-01

    Infrared light-emitting diodes are currently fabricated from direct-gap semiconductors using epitaxy, which makes them expensive and difficult to integrate with other materials. Light-emitting diodes based on colloidal semiconductor quantum dots, on the other hand, can be solution-processed at low cost, and can be directly integrated with silicon. However, so far, exciton dissociation and recombination have not been well controlled in these devices, and this has limited their performance. Here, by tuning the distance between adjacent PbS quantum dots, we fabricate thin-film quantum-dot light-emitting diodes that operate at infrared wavelengths with radiances (6.4 W sr '1 m '2) eight times higher and external quantum efficiencies (2.0%) two times higher than the highest values previously reported. The distance between adjacent dots is tuned over a range of 1.3 nm by varying the lengths of the linker molecules from three to eight CH 2 groups, which allows us to achieve the optimum balance between charge injection and radiative exciton recombination. The electroluminescent powers of the best devices are comparable to those produced by commercial InGaAsP light-emitting diodes. By varying the size of the quantum dots, we can tune the emission wavelengths between 800 and 1,850 nm.© 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

  19. Bright infrared quantum-dot light-emitting diodes through inter-dot spacing control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Liangfeng; Choi, Joshua J; Stachnik, David; Bartnik, Adam C; Hyun, Byung-Ryool; Malliaras, George G; Hanrath, Tobias; Wise, Frank W

    2012-05-06

    Infrared light-emitting diodes are currently fabricated from direct-gap semiconductors using epitaxy, which makes them expensive and difficult to integrate with other materials. Light-emitting diodes based on colloidal semiconductor quantum dots, on the other hand, can be solution-processed at low cost, and can be directly integrated with silicon. However, so far, exciton dissociation and recombination have not been well controlled in these devices, and this has limited their performance. Here, by tuning the distance between adjacent PbS quantum dots, we fabricate thin-film quantum-dot light-emitting diodes that operate at infrared wavelengths with radiances (6.4 W sr(-1) m(-2)) eight times higher and external quantum efficiencies (2.0%) two times higher than the highest values previously reported. The distance between adjacent dots is tuned over a range of 1.3 nm by varying the lengths of the linker molecules from three to eight CH(2) groups, which allows us to achieve the optimum balance between charge injection and radiative exciton recombination. The electroluminescent powers of the best devices are comparable to those produced by commercial InGaAsP light-emitting diodes. By varying the size of the quantum dots, we can tune the emission wavelengths between 800 and 1,850 nm.

  20. Bright infrared quantum-dot light-emitting diodes through inter-dot spacing control

    KAUST Repository

    Sun, Liangfeng

    2012-05-06

    Infrared light-emitting diodes are currently fabricated from direct-gap semiconductors using epitaxy, which makes them expensive and difficult to integrate with other materials. Light-emitting diodes based on colloidal semiconductor quantum dots, on the other hand, can be solution-processed at low cost, and can be directly integrated with silicon. However, so far, exciton dissociation and recombination have not been well controlled in these devices, and this has limited their performance. Here, by tuning the distance between adjacent PbS quantum dots, we fabricate thin-film quantum-dot light-emitting diodes that operate at infrared wavelengths with radiances (6.4 W sr \\'1 m \\'2) eight times higher and external quantum efficiencies (2.0%) two times higher than the highest values previously reported. The distance between adjacent dots is tuned over a range of 1.3 nm by varying the lengths of the linker molecules from three to eight CH 2 groups, which allows us to achieve the optimum balance between charge injection and radiative exciton recombination. The electroluminescent powers of the best devices are comparable to those produced by commercial InGaAsP light-emitting diodes. By varying the size of the quantum dots, we can tune the emission wavelengths between 800 and 1,850 nm.© 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

  1. Spin interactions in InAs quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doty, M. F.; Ware, M. E.; Stinaff, E. A.; Scheibner, M.; Bracker, A. S.; Gammon, D.; Ponomarev, I. V.; Reinecke, T. L.; Korenev, V. L.

    2006-03-01

    Fine structure splittings in optical spectra of self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) generally arise from spin interactions between particles confined in the dots. We present experimental studies of the fine structure that arises from multiple charges confined in a single dot [1] or in molecular orbitals of coupled pairs of dots. To probe the underlying spin interactions we inject particles with a known spin orientation (by using polarized light to perform photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy experiments) or use a magnetic field to orient and/or mix the spin states. We develop a model of the spin interactions that aids in the development of quantum information processing applications based on controllable interactions between spins confined to QDs. [1] Polarized Fine Structure in the Photoluminescence Excitation Spectrum of a Negatively Charged Quantum Dot, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 177403 (2005)

  2. Enzyme-Polymers Conjugated to Quantum-Dots for Sensing Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandra Mansur

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available In the present research, the concept of developing a novel system based on polymer-enzyme macromolecules was tested by coupling carboxylic acid functionalized poly(vinyl alcohol (PVA-COOH to glucose oxidase (GOx followed by the bioconjugation with CdS quantum-dots (QD. The resulting organic-inorganic nanohybrids were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, Photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL and transmission electron microscopy (TEM. The spectroscopy results have clearly shown that the polymer-enzyme macromolecules (PVA-COOH/GOx were synthesized by the proposed zero-length linker route. Moreover, they have performed as successful capping agents for the nucleation and constrained growth of CdS quantum-dots via aqueous colloidal chemistry. The TEM images associated with the optical absorption results have indicated the formation of CdS nanocrystals with estimated diameters of about 3.0 nm. The “blue-shift” in the visible absorption spectra and the PL values have provided strong evidence that the fluorescent CdS nanoparticles were produced in the quantum-size confinement regime. Finally, the hybrid system was biochemically assayed by injecting the glucose substrate and detecting the formation of peroxide with the enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP. Thus, the polymer-enzyme-QD hybrid has behaved as a nanostructured sensor for glucose detecting.

  3. Novel Photovoltaic Devices Using Ferroelectric Material and Colloidal Quantum Dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paik, Young Hun

    As the global concern for the financial and environmental costs of traditional energy resources increases, research on renewable energy, most notably solar energy, has taken center stage. Many alternative photovoltaic (PV) technologies for 'the next generation solar cell' have been extensively studied to overcome the Shockley-Queisser 31% efficiency limit as well as tackle the efficiency vs. cost issues. This dissertation focuses on the novel photovoltaic mechanism for the next generation solar cells using two inorganic nanomaterials, nanocrystal quantum dots and ferroelectric nanoparticles. Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) materials are widely studied and easy to synthesize using solution based chemistry. One of the fascinating properties of the PZT material is a Bulk Photovoltaic effect (BPVE). This property has been spotlighted because it can produce very high open circuit voltage regardless of the electrical bandgap of the materials. However, the poor optical absorption of the PZT materials and the required high temperature to form the ferroelectric crystalline structure have been obstacles to fabricate efficient photovoltaic devices. Colloidal quantum dots also have fascinating optical and electrical properties such as tailored absorption spectrum, capability of the bandgap engineering due to the wide range of material selection and quantum confinement, and very efficient carrier dynamics called multiple exciton generations. In order to utilize these properties, many researchers have put numerous efforts in colloidal quantum dot photovoltaic research and there has been remarkable progress in the past decade. However, several drawbacks are still remaining to achieve highly efficient photovoltaic device. Traps created on the large surface area, low carrier mobility, and lower open circuit voltage while increasing the absorption of the solar spectrum is main issues of the nanocrystal based photovoltaic effect. To address these issues and to take the advantages of

  4. Transport properties of a Kondo dot with a larger side-coupled noninteracting quantum dot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Y S; Fan, X H; Xia, Y J; Yang, X F

    2008-01-01

    We investigate theoretically linear and nonlinear quantum transport through a smaller quantum dot in a Kondo regime connected to two leads in the presence of a larger side-coupled noninteracting quantum dot, without tunneling coupling to the leads. To do this we employ the slave boson mean field theory with the help of the Keldysh Green's function at zero temperature. The numerical results show that the Kondo conductance peak may develop multiple resonance peaks and multiple zero points in the conductance spectrum owing to constructive and destructive quantum interference effects when the energy levels of the large side-coupled noninteracting dot are located in the vicinity of the Fermi level in the leads. As the coupling strength between two quantum dots increases, the tunneling current through the quantum device as a function of gate voltage applied across the two leads is suppressed. The spin-dependent transport properties of two parallel coupled quantum dots connected to two ferromagnetic leads are also investigated. The numerical results show that, for the parallel configuration, the spin current or linear spin differential conductance are enhanced when the polarization strength in the two leads is increased

  5. Spin interactions in InAs quantum dots and molecules

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Doty, M.F.; Ware, M.E.; Stinaff, E.A.; Scheibner, M.; Bracker, A.S.; Ponomarev, I.V.; Badescu, S.C.; Reinecke, T.L.; Gammon, D. [Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Korenev, V.L. [A.F. Ioffe Physical Technical Institute, St. Petersburg 194021 (Russian Federation)

    2006-12-15

    Spin interactions between particles in quantum dots or quantum dot molecules appear as fine structure in the photoluminescence spectra. Using the understanding of exchange interactions that has been developed from single dot spectra, we analyze the spin signatures of coupled quantum dots separated by a wide barrier such that inter-dot interactions are negligible. We find that electron-hole exchange splitting is directly evident. In dots charged with an excess hole, an effective hole-hole interaction can be turned on through tunnel coupling. (copyright 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

  6. Photoinduced electric dipole in CuCl quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masumoto, Yasuaki; Naruse, Fumitaka; Kanno, Atsushi

    2003-01-01

    Electromodulated absorption spectra of CuCl quantum dots modulated at twice the modulation frequency of electric field, 2f, show prominent structure around persistently burned hole. It grows in proportion to square of the electric field in the same manner as the 2f component of electromodulated absorption spectra of the dots without the laser exposure. Even the f component of electromodulated signal was observed around the burned hole position. These observations are explained by considering electric dipole formed in hole burned and photoionized quantum dots. Photoionization not only produces persistent spectral hole burning but also the local built-in electric field and photoinduced dipole moment in quantum dots. The dipole moment is estimated to be about 5 debye for 3.2-nm-radius quantum dots. The dipole moments are randomly oriented but 1% anisotropy is deduced from the electromodulated signal at f

  7. Coherent radiation by quantum dots and magnetic nanoclusters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yukalov, V. I.; Yukalova, E. P.

    2014-01-01

    The assemblies of either quantum dots or magnetic nanoclusters are studied. It is shown that such assemblies can produce coherent radiation. A method is developed for solving the systems of nonlinear equations describing the dynamics of such assemblies. The method is shown to be general and applicable to systems of different physical nature. Despite mathematical similarities of dynamical equations, the physics of the processes for quantum dots and magnetic nanoclusters is rather different. In a quantum dot assembly, coherence develops due to the Dicke effect of dot interactions through the common radiation field. For a system of magnetic clusters, coherence in the spin motion appears due to the Purcell effect caused by the feedback action of a resonator. Self-organized coherent spin radiation cannot arise without a resonator. This principal difference is connected with the different physical nature of dipole forces between the objects. Effective dipole interactions between the radiating quantum dots, appearing due to photon exchange, collectivize the dot radiation. While the dipolar spin interactions exist from the beginning, yet before radiation, and on the contrary, they dephase spin motion, thus destroying the coherence of moving spins. In addition, quantum dot radiation exhibits turbulent photon filamentation that is absent for radiating spins

  8. Fabrication of quantum-dot devices in graphene

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satoshi Moriyama, Yoshifumi Morita, Eiichiro Watanabe, Daiju Tsuya, Shinya Uji, Maki Shimizu and Koji Ishibashi

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available We describe our recent experimental results on the fabrication of quantum-dot devices in a graphene-based two-dimensional system. Graphene samples were prepared by micromechanical cleavage of graphite crystals on a SiO2/Si substrate. We performed micro-Raman spectroscopy measurements to determine the number of layers of graphene flakes during the device fabrication process. By applying a nanofabrication process to the identified graphene flakes, we prepared a double-quantum-dot device structure comprising two lateral quantum dots coupled in series. Measurements of low-temperature electrical transport show the device to be a series-coupled double-dot system with varied interdot tunnel coupling, the strength of which changes continuously and non-monotonically as a function of gate voltage.

  9. Shape, strain, and ordering of lateral InAs quantum dot molecules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krause, B.; Metzger, T.H.; Rastelli, A.; Songmuang, R.; Kiravittaya, S.; Schmidt, O. G.

    2005-01-01

    The results of an x-ray study on freestanding, self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy are presented. The studied samples cover the range from statistically distributed single quantum dots to quantum dot bimolecules, and finally to quantum dot quadmolecules. The x-ray diffraction data of the single quantum dots and the bimolecules, obtained in grazing incidence geometry, have been analyzed using the isostrain model. An extended version of the isostrain model has been developed, including the lateral arrangement of the quantum dots within a quantum dot molecule and the superposition of the scattering from different parts of the dots. This model has been applied to the scattering maps of all three samples. Quantitative information about the positions of the dots, the shape, and the lattice parameter distribution of their crystalline core has been obtained. For the single dot and the bimolecule, a strong similarity of the shape and lattice parameter distribution has been found, in agreement with the similarity of their photoluminescence spectra

  10. Fluorescent quenching immune chromatographic strips with quantum dots and upconversion nanoparticles as fluorescent donors for visual detection of sulfaquinoxaline in foods of animal origin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, Gaoshuang; Sheng, Wei; Li, Jingmin; Zhang, Yan; Wang, Junping; Wang, Shuo

    2017-01-01

    In this study, two novel fluorescence quenching immune chromatographic strips (FQICS) were developed to detect sulfaquinoxaline (SQX) in foods of animal origin. These proposed FQICSs were based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from fluorescence donors (quantum dots or upconversion nanoparticles) to fluorescence acceptors (colloidal gold nanoparticles). Compared with traditional colloidal gold-based immune chromatographic strips (ICS), these FQICSs showed positive correlation between the fluorescent signals and the targets, and allowed user to get test results from weak fluorescent signals. The visual detection limits of these two FQICSs were both 1 ng mL −1 in standard solution and 8 μg kg −1 in samples, while the visual detection limit of the colloidal gold-based ICS was 10 ng mL −1 in standard solution and 80 μg kg −1 in samples. Besides, the results we obtained by the use of FQICS showed high agreement with those obtained by the use of commercial ELISA kits, indicating the good accuracy of these strips. As a conclusion, these proposed FQICS based on quantum dots and upconversion nanoparticles can be applied in sensitive, rapid and on-site detection of SQX in foods of animal origin. - Highlights: • Two novel FQICS based on FRET were developed for the first time. • QDs and UCNPs were used as fluorescent donors in the FQICS. • The proposed FQICS showed low LOD compared with traditional ICS. • The proposed FQICS were applied in real samples analysis. • The proposed FQICS were verified by commercial ELISA kits.

  11. Exciton dephasing in single InGaAs quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leosson, Kristjan; Østergaard, John Erland; Jensen, Jacob Riis

    2000-01-01

    The homogeneous linewidth of excitonic transitions is a parameter of fundamental physical importance. In self-assembled quantum dot systems, a strong inhomogeneous broadening due to dot size fluctuations masks the homogeneous linewidth associated with transitions between individual states....... The homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening of InGaAs quantum dot luminescence is of central importance for the potential application of this material system in optoelectronic devices. Recent measurements of MOCVD-grown InAs/InGaAs quantum dots indicate a large homogeneous broadening at room temperature due...... to fast dephasing. We present an investigation of the low-temperature homogeneous linewidth of individual PL lines from MBE-grown In0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs quantum dots....

  12. Optical Spectroscopy Of Charged Quantum Dot Molecules

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheibner, M.; Bracker, A. S.; Stinaff, E. A.; Doty, M. F.; Gammon, D.; Ponomarev, I. V.; Reinecke, T. L.; Korenev, V. L.

    2007-04-01

    Coupling between two closely spaced quantum dots is observed by means of photoluminescence spectroscopy. Hole coupling is realized by rational crystal growth and heterostructure design. We identify molecular resonances of different excitonic charge states, including the important case of a doubly charged quantum dot molecule.

  13. Strong-coupling polaron effect in quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu Kadi; Gu Shiwei

    1993-11-01

    Strong-coupling polaron in a parabolic quantum dot is investigated by the Landau-Pekar variational treatment. The polaron binding energy and the average number of virtual phonons around the electron as a function of the effective confinement length of the quantum dot are obtained in Gaussian function approximation. It is shown that both the polaron binding energy and the average number of virtual phonons around the electron decrease by increasing the effective confinement length. The results indicate that the polaronic effects are more pronounced in quantum dots than those in two-dimensional and three-dimensional cases. (author). 15 refs, 4 figs

  14. Second-harmonic imaging of semiconductor quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Østergaard, John Erland; Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I.; Pedersen, Kjeld

    2000-01-01

    Resonant second-harmonic generation is observed at room temperature in reflection from self-assembled InAlGaAs quantum dots grown on a GaAs (001) substrate. The detected second-harmonic signal peaks at a pump wavelength of similar to 885 nm corresponding to the quantum-dot photoluminescence maximum....... In addition, the second-harmonic spectrum exhibits another smaller but well-pronounced peak at 765 nm not found in the linear experiments. We attribute this peak to the generation of second-harmonic radiation in the AlGaAs spacer layer enhanced by the local symmetry at the quantum-dot interface. We further...

  15. Quantum dot molecules

    CERN Document Server

    Wu, Jiang

    2014-01-01

    This book reviews recent advances in the exciting and rapidly growing field of quantum dot molecules (QDMs). It offers state-of-the-art coverage of novel techniques and connects fundamental physical properties with device design.

  16. Quantum dot solar cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahamefula, U.C.; Sulaiman, M.Y.; Sopian, K.; Ibarahim, Z.; Ibrahim, N.; Alghoul, M.A.; Haw, L.C.; Yahya, M.; Amin, N.; Mat, S.; Ruslan, M.H.

    2009-01-01

    Full text: The much awaited desire of replacing fossil fuel with photovoltaic will remain a fairy tale if the myriad of issues facing solar cell development are marginalized. Foremost in the list is the issue of cost. Silicon has reached a stage where its use on large scale can no longer be lavishly depended upon. The demand for high grade silicon from the microelectronics and solar industries has soared leading to scarcity. New approach has to be sought. Notable is the increased attention on thin films such as cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium diselenide, amorphous silicon, and the not so thin non-crystalline family of silicon. While efforts to address the issues of stability, toxicity and efficiency of these systems are ongoing, another novel approach is quietly making its appearance - quantum dots. Quantum dots seem to be promising candidates for solar cells because of the opportunity to manipulate their energy levels allowing absorption of a wider solar spectrum. Utilization of minute quantity of these nano structures is enough to bring the cost of solar cell down and to ascertain sustainable supply of useful material. The paper outlines the progress that has been made on quantum dot solar cells. (author)

  17. Charge-extraction strategies for colloidal quantum dot photovoltaics

    KAUST Repository

    Lan, Xinzheng

    2014-02-20

    The solar-power conversion efficiencies of colloidal quantum dot solar cells have advanced from sub-1% reported in 2005 to a record value of 8.5% in 2013. Much focus has deservedly been placed on densifying, passivating and crosslinking the colloidal quantum dot solid. Here we review progress in improving charge extraction, achieved by engineering the composition and structure of the electrode materials that contact the colloidal quantum dot film. New classes of structured electrodes have been developed and integrated to form bulk heterojunction devices that enhance photocharge extraction. Control over band offsets, doping and interfacial trap state densities have been essential for achieving improved electrical communication with colloidal quantum dot solids. Quantum junction devices that not only tune the optical absorption spectrum, but also provide inherently matched bands across the interface between p-and n-materials, have proven that charge separation can occur efficiently across an all-quantum-tuned rectifying junction. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

  18. Four-Wave Mixing Spectroscopy of Quantum Dot Molecules

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sitek, A.; Machnikowski, P.

    2007-08-01

    We study theoretically the nonlinear four-wave mixing response of an ensemble of coupled pairs of quantum dots (quantum dot molecules). We discuss the shape of the echo signal depending on the parameters of the ensemble: the statistics of transition energies and the degree of size correlations between the dots forming the molecules.

  19. Carbon quantum dots and a method of making the same

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zidan, Ragaiy; Teprovich, Joseph A.; Washington, Aaron L.

    2017-08-22

    The present invention is directed to a method of preparing a carbon quantum dot. The carbon quantum dot can be prepared from a carbon precursor, such as a fullerene, and a complex metal hydride. The present invention also discloses a carbon quantum dot made by reacting a carbon precursor with a complex metal hydride and a polymer containing a carbon quantum dot made by reacting a carbon precursor with a complex metal hydride.

  20. Nonadiabatic geometrical quantum gates in semiconductor quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Solinas, Paolo; Zanghi, Nino; Zanardi, Paolo; Rossi, Fausto

    2003-01-01

    In this paper, we study the implementation of nonadiabatic geometrical quantum gates with in semiconductor quantum dots. Different quantum information enconding (manipulation) schemes exploiting excitonic degrees of freedom are discussed. By means of the Aharanov-Anandan geometrical phase, one can avoid the limitations of adiabatic schemes relying on adiabatic Berry phase; fast geometrical quantum gates can be, in principle, implemented

  1. Integrated photonics using colloidal quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menon, Vinod M.; Husaini, Saima; Okoye, Nicky; Valappil, Nikesh V.

    2009-11-01

    Integrated photonic devices were realized using colloidal quantum dot composites such as flexible microcavity laser, microdisk emitters and integrated active-passive waveguides. The microcavity laser structure was realized using spin coating and consisted of an all-polymer distributed Bragg reflector with a poly-vinyl carbazole cavity layer embedded with InGaP/ZnS colloidal quantum dots. These microcavities can be peeled off the substrate yielding a flexible structure that can conform to any shape and whose emission spectra can be mechanically tuned. Planar photonic devices consisting of vertically coupled microring resonators, microdisk emitters, active-passive integrated waveguide structures and coupled active microdisk resonators were realized using soft lithography, photo-lithography, and electron beam lithography, respectively. The gain medium in all these devices was a composite consisting of quantum dots embedded in SU8 matrix. Finally, the effect of the host matrix on the optical properties of the quantum dots using results of steady-state and time-resolved luminescence measurements was determined. In addition to their specific functionalities, these novel device demonstrations and their development present a low-cost alternative to the traditional photonic device fabrication techniques.

  2. Photovoltaic Performance of a Nanowire/Quantum Dot Hybrid Nanostructure Array Solar Cell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yao; Yan, Xin; Zhang, Xia; Ren, Xiaomin

    2018-02-23

    An innovative solar cell based on a nanowire/quantum dot hybrid nanostructure array is designed and analyzed. By growing multilayer InAs quantum dots on the sidewalls of GaAs nanowires, not only the absorption spectrum of GaAs nanowires is extended by quantum dots but also the light absorption of quantum dots is dramatically enhanced due to the light-trapping effect of the nanowire array. By incorporating five layers of InAs quantum dots into a 500-nm high-GaAs nanowire array, the power conversion efficiency enhancement induced by the quantum dots is six times higher than the power conversion efficiency enhancement in thin-film solar cells which contain the same amount of quantum dots, indicating that the nanowire array structure can benefit the photovoltaic performance of quantum dot solar cells.

  3. Capture, relaxation and recombination in quantum dots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sreenivasan, D.

    2008-01-01

    Quantum dots (QDs) have attracted a lot of interest both from application and fundamental physics point of view. A semiconductor quantum dot features discrete atomiclike energy levels, despite the fact that it contains many atoms within its surroundings. The discrete energy levels give rise to very

  4. Bound states in continuum: Quantum dots in a quantum well

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Prodanović, Nikola, E-mail: elnpr@leeds.ac.uk [Institute of Microwaves and Photonics, School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT (United Kingdom); Milanović, Vitomir [School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 73, 11000 Belgrade (Serbia); Ikonić, Zoran; Indjin, Dragan; Harrison, Paul [Institute of Microwaves and Photonics, School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT (United Kingdom)

    2013-11-01

    We report on the existence of a bound state in the continuum (BIC) of quantum rods (QR). QRs are novel elongated InGaAs quantum dot nanostructures embedded in the shallower InGaAs quantum well. BIC appears as an excited confined dot state and energetically above the bottom of a well subband continuum. We prove that high height-to-diameter QR aspect ratio and the presence of a quantum well are indispensable conditions for accommodating the BIC. QRs are unique semiconductor nanostructures, exhibiting this mathematical curiosity predicted 83 years ago by Wigner and von Neumann.

  5. Quantum efficiency and oscillator strength of site-controlled InGaAs quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Albert, F.; Schneider, C.; Stobbe, Søren

    2010-01-01

    We report on time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy to determine the oscillator strength (OS) and the quantum efficiency (QE) of site-controlled In(Ga)As quantum dots nucleating on patterned nanoholes. These two quantities are determined by measurements on site-controlled quantum dot (SCQD...

  6. Carrier-phonon interaction in semiconductor quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seebeck, Jan

    2009-03-10

    In recent years semiconductor quantum dots have been studied extensively due to their wide range of possible applications, predominantly for light sources. For successful applications, efficient carrier scattering processes as well as a detailed understanding of the optical properties are of central importance. The aims of this thesis are theoretical investigations of carrier scattering processes in InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots on a quantum-kinetic basis. A consistent treatment of quasi-particle renormalizations and carrier kinetics for non-equilibrium conditions is presented, using the framework of non-equilibrium Green's functions. The focus of our investigations is the interaction of carriers with LO phonons. Important for the understanding of the scattering mechanism are the corresponding quasi-particle properties. Starting from a detailed study of quantum-dot polarons, scattering and dephasing processes are discussed for different temperature regimes. The inclusion of polaron and memory effects turns out to be essential for the description of the carrier kinetics in quantum-dot systems. They give rise to efficient scattering channels and the obtained results are in agreement with recent experiments. Furthermore, a consistent treatment of the carrier-LO-phonon and the carrier-carrier interaction is presented for the optical response of semiconductor quantum dots, both giving rise to equally important contributions to the dephasing. Beside the conventional GaAs material system, currently GaN based light sources are of high topical interest due to their wide range of possible emission frequencies. In this material additionally intrinsic properties like piezoelectric fields and strong band-mixing effects have to be considered. For the description of the optical properties of InN/GaN quantum dots a procedure is presented, where the material properties obtained from an atomistic tight-binding approach are combined with a many-body theory for non

  7. Nonadiabatic corrections to a quantum dot quantum computer

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Pramana – Journal of Physics; Volume 83; Issue 1. Nonadiabatic corrections to a quantum dot quantum computer working in adiabatic limit. M Ávila ... The time of operation of an adiabatic quantum computer must be less than the decoherence time, otherwise the computer would be nonoperative. So far, the ...

  8. Graphene quantum dots probed by scanning tunneling microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morgenstern, Markus; Freitag, Nils; Nent, Alexander; Nemes-Incze, Peter; Liebmann, Marcus [II. Institute of Physics B and JARA-FIT, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen (Germany)

    2017-11-15

    Scanning tunneling spectroscopy results probing the electronic properties of graphene quantum dots are reviewed. After a short summary of the study of squared wave functions of graphene quantum dots on metal substrates, we firstly present data where the Landau level gaps caused by a perpendicular magnetic field are used to electrostatically confine electrons in monolayer graphene, which are probed by the Coulomb staircase revealing the consecutive charging of a quantum dot. It turns out that these quantum dots exhibit much more regular charging sequences than lithographically confined ones. Namely, the consistent grouping of charging peaks into quadruplets, both, in the electron and hole branch, portrays a regular orbital splitting of about 10meV. At low hole occupation numbers, the charging peaks are, partly, additionally grouped into doublets. The spatially varying energy separation of the doublets indicates a modulation of the valley splitting by the underlying BN substrate. We outline that this property might be used to eventually tune the valley splitting coherently. Afterwards, we describe graphene quantum dots with multiple contacts produced without lithographic resist, namely by local anodic oxidation. Such quantum dots target the goal to probe magnetotransport properties during the imaging of the corresponding wave functions by scanning tunneling spectroscopy. (copyright 2017 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  9. A theoretical study of exciton energy levels in laterally coupled quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barticevic, Z; Pacheco, M; Duque, C A; Oliveira, L E

    2009-01-01

    A theoretical study of the electronic and optical properties of laterally coupled quantum dots, under applied magnetic fields perpendicular to the plane of the dots, is presented. The exciton energy levels of such laterally coupled quantum-dot systems, together with the corresponding wavefunctions and eigenvalues, are obtained in the effective-mass approximation by using an extended variational approach in which the magnetoexciton states are simultaneously obtained. One achieves the expected limits of one single quantum dot, when the distance between the dots is zero, and of two uncoupled quantum dots, when the distance between the dots is large enough. Moreover, present calculations-with appropriate structural dimensions of the two-dot system-are shown to be in agreement with measurements in self-assembled laterally aligned GaAs quantum-dot pairs and naturally/accidentally occurring coupled quantum dots in GaAs/GaAlAs quantum wells.

  10. Formation of a Colloidal CdSe and ZnSe Quantum Dots via a Gamma Radiolytic Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aeshah Salem

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Colloidal cadmium selenide (CdSe and zinc selenide (ZnSe quantum dots with a hexagonal structure were synthesized by irradiating an aqueous solution containing metal precursors, poly (vinyl pyrrolidone, isopropyl alcohol, and organic solvents with 1.25-MeV gamma rays at a dose of 120 kGy. The radiolytic processes occurring in water result in the nucleation of particles, which leads to the growth of the quantum dots. The physical properties of the CdSe and ZnSe nanoparticles were measured by various characterization techniques. X-ray diffraction (XRD was used to confirm the nanocrystalline structure, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX was used to estimate the material composition of the samples, transmission electron microscopy (TEM was used to determine the morphologies and average particle size distribution, and UV-visible spectroscopy was used to measure the optical absorption spectra, from which the band gap of the CdSe and ZnSe nanoparticles could be deduced.

  11. Fermionic entanglement via quantum walks in quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melnikov, Alexey A.; Fedichkin, Leonid E.

    2018-02-01

    Quantum walks are fundamentally different from random walks due to the quantum superposition property of quantum objects. Quantum walk process was found to be very useful for quantum information and quantum computation applications. In this paper we demonstrate how to use quantum walks as a tool to generate high-dimensional two-particle fermionic entanglement. The generated entanglement can survive longer in the presence of depolorazing noise due to the periodicity of quantum walk dynamics. The possibility to create two distinguishable qudits in a system of tunnel-coupled semiconductor quantum dots is discussed.

  12. Synthesis and Characterization of Mercaptoacetic Acid Capped Cadmium Sulphide Quantum Dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wageh, S; Maize, Mai; Donia, A M; Al-Ghamdi, Ahmed A; Umar, Ahmad

    2015-12-01

    This paper reports the facile synthesis and detailed characterization of mercaptoacetic acid capped cadmium sulphide (CdS) quantum dots using various cadmium precursors. The mercaptoacetic acid capped CdS quantum dots were prepared by facile and simple wet chemical method and characterized by several techniques such as energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, UV-vis. spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission microscopy (HRTEM) and thremogravimetric analysis. The EDS studies revealed that the prepared quantum dots possess higher atomic percentage of sulfur compared to cadmium due to the coordination of thiolate to the quantum dots surfaces. The X-ray and absorption analyses exhibited that the size of quantum dots prepared by cadmium acetate is larger than the quantum dots prepared by cadmium chloride and cadmium nitrate. The increase in size can be attributed to the low stability constant of cadmium acetate in comparison with cadmium chloride and cadmium nitrate. The FTIR and thermogravimetric analysis showed that the nature of capping molecule on the surface of quantum dots are different depending on the cadmium precursors which affect the emission from CdS quantum dots. Photoemission spectroscopy revealed that the emission of quantum dots prepared by cadmium acetate has high intensity band edge emission along with low intensity trapping state emission. However the CdS quantum dots prepared by cadmium chloride and cadmium nitrate produced only trapping state emissions.

  13. Epitope imprinted polymer nanoparticles containing fluorescent quantum dots for specific recognition of human serum albumin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Yi-Zhi; Li, Dong-Yan; He, Xi-Wen; Li, Wen-You; Zhang, Yu-Kui

    2015-01-01

    Epitope imprinted polymer nanoparticles (EI-NPs) were prepared by one-pot polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide in the presence of CdTe quantum dots and an epitope (consisting of amino acids 598 to 609) of human serum albumin (HSA). The resulting EI-NPs exhibit specific recognition ability and enable direct fluorescence quantification of HSA based on a fluorescence turn-on mode. The polymer was characterized by FT-IR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. The linear calibration graph was obtained in the range of 0.25–5 μmol · mL −1 with the detection limit of 44.3 nmol · mL −1 . The EI-NPs were successfully applied to the direct fluorometric quantification of HSA in samples of human serum. Overall, this approach provides a promising tool to design functional fluorescent materials with protein recognition capability and specific applications in proteomics. (author)

  14. Using a quantum dot system to realize perfect state transfer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Ji; Wu Shi-Hai; Zhang Wen-Wen; Xi Xiao-Qiang

    2011-01-01

    There are some disadvantages to Nikolopoulos et al.'s protocol [Nikolopoulos G M, Petrosyan D and Lambropoulos P 2004 Europhys. Lett. 65 297] where a quantum dot system is used to realize quantum communication. To overcome these disadvantages, we propose a protocol that uses a quantum dot array to construct a four-qubit spin chain to realize perfect quantum state transfer (PQST). First, we calculate the interaction relation for PQST in the spin chain. Second, we review the interaction between the quantum dots in the Heitler—London approach. Third, we present a detailed program for designing the proper parameters of a quantum dot array to realize PQST. (general)

  15. 3D super-resolution imaging with blinking quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yong; Fruhwirth, Gilbert; Cai, En; Ng, Tony; Selvin, Paul R.

    2013-01-01

    Quantum dots are promising candidates for single molecule imaging due to their exceptional photophysical properties, including their intense brightness and resistance to photobleaching. They are also notorious for their blinking. Here we report a novel way to take advantage of quantum dot blinking to develop an imaging technique in three-dimensions with nanometric resolution. We first applied this method to simulated images of quantum dots, and then to quantum dots immobilized on microspheres. We achieved imaging resolutions (FWHM) of 8–17 nm in the x-y plane and 58 nm (on coverslip) or 81 nm (deep in solution) in the z-direction, approximately 3–7 times better than what has been achieved previously with quantum dots. This approach was applied to resolve the 3D distribution of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) molecules at, and inside of, the plasma membrane of resting basal breast cancer cells. PMID:24093439

  16. Electroluminescent Cu-doped CdS quantum dots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stouwdam, J.W.; Janssen, R.A.J.

    2009-01-01

    Incorporating Cu-doped CdS quantum dots into a polymer host produces efficient light-emitting diodes. The Cu dopant creates a trap level that aligns with the valence band of the host, enabling the direct injection of holes into the quantum dots, which act as emitters. At low current densities, the

  17. A triple quantum dot in a single-wall carbon nanotube

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grove-Rasmussen, Kasper; Jørgensen, Henrik Ingerslev; Hayashi, T.

    2008-01-01

    A top-gated single-wall carbon nanotube is used to define three coupled quantum dots in series between two electrodes. The additional electron number on each quantum dot is controlled by top-gate voltages allowing for current measurements of single, double, and triple quantum dot stability diagrams...

  18. Electroluminescence of colloidal ZnSe quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dey, S.C.; Nath, S.S.

    2011-01-01

    The article reports a green chemical synthesis of colloidal ZnSe quantum dots at a moderate temperature. The prepared colloid sample is characterised by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. UV-vis spectroscopy reveals as-expected blue-shift with strong absorption edge at 400 nm and micrographs show a non-uniform size distribution of ZnSe quantum dots in the range 1-4 nm. Further, photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectroscopies are carried out to study optical emission. Each of the spectroscopies reveals two emission peaks, indicating band-to-band transition and defect related transition. From the luminescence studies, it can be inferred that the recombination of electrons and holes resulting from interband transition causes violet emission and the recombination of a photon generated hole with a charged state of Zn-vacancy gives blue emission. Meanwhile electroluminescence study suggests the application of ZnSe quantum dots as an efficient light emitting device with the advantage of colour tuning (violet-blue-violet). - Highlights: → Synthesis of ZnSe quantum dots by a green chemical route. → Characterisation: UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. → Analysis of UV-vis absorption spectrum and transmission electron micrographs. → Study of electro-optical properties by photoluminescence and electroluminescence. → Conclusion: ZnSe quantum dots can be used as LED with dual colour emission.

  19. In situ electron-beam polymerization stabilized quantum dot micelles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Travert-Branger, Nathalie; Dubois, Fabien; Renault, Jean-Philippe; Pin, Serge; Mahler, Benoit; Gravel, Edmond; Dubertret, Benoit; Doris, Eric

    2011-04-19

    A polymerizable amphiphile polymer containing PEG was synthesized and used to encapsulate quantum dots in micelles. The quantum dot micelles were then polymerized using a "clean" electron beam process that did not require any post-irradiation purification. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that the polymerized micelles provided an organic coating that preserved the quantum dot fluorescence better than nonpolymerized micelles, even under harsh conditions. © 2011 American Chemical Society

  20. Dynamic Trap Formation and Elimination in Colloidal Quantum Dots

    KAUST Repository

    Voznyy, O.; Thon, S. M.; Ip, A. H.; Sargent, E. H.

    2013-01-01

    Using first-principles simulations on PbS and CdSe colloidal quantum dots, we find that surface defects form in response to electronic doping and charging of the nanoparticles. We show that electronic trap states in nanocrystals are dynamic entities, in contrast with the conventional picture wherein traps are viewed as stable electronic states that can be filled or emptied, but not created or destroyed. These traps arise from the formation or breaking of atomic dimers at the nanoparticle surface. The dimers' energy levels can reside within the bandgap, in which case a trap is formed. Fortunately, we are also able to identify a number of shallow-electron-affinity cations that stabilize the surface, working to counter dynamic trap formation and allowing for trap-free doping. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

  1. Dynamic Trap Formation and Elimination in Colloidal Quantum Dots

    KAUST Repository

    Voznyy, O.

    2013-03-21

    Using first-principles simulations on PbS and CdSe colloidal quantum dots, we find that surface defects form in response to electronic doping and charging of the nanoparticles. We show that electronic trap states in nanocrystals are dynamic entities, in contrast with the conventional picture wherein traps are viewed as stable electronic states that can be filled or emptied, but not created or destroyed. These traps arise from the formation or breaking of atomic dimers at the nanoparticle surface. The dimers\\' energy levels can reside within the bandgap, in which case a trap is formed. Fortunately, we are also able to identify a number of shallow-electron-affinity cations that stabilize the surface, working to counter dynamic trap formation and allowing for trap-free doping. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

  2. Nanocrystal quantum dots

    CERN Document Server

    Klimov, Victor I

    2010-01-01

    ""Soft"" Chemical Synthesis and Manipulation of Semiconductor Nanocrystals, J.A. Hollingsworth and V.I. Klimov Electronic Structure in Semiconductor Nanocrystals: Optical Experiment, D.J. NorrisFine Structure and Polarization Properties of Band-Edge Excitons in Semiconductor Nanocrystals, A.L. EfrosIntraband Spectroscopy and Dynamics of Colloidal Semiconductor Quantum Dots, P. Guyot-Sionnest, M. Shim, and C. WangMultiexciton Phenomena in Semiconductor Nanocrystals, V.I. KlimovOptical Dynamics in Single Semiconductor Quantum Do

  3. Quantum Logic Using Excitonic Quantum Dots in External Optical Microcavities

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Raymer, Michael

    2003-01-01

    An experimental project was undertaken to develop means to achieve quantum optical strong coupling between a single GaAs quantum dot and the optical mode of a microcavity for the purpose of quantum...

  4. Imaging GABAc Receptors with Ligand-Conjugated Quantum Dots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ian D. Tomlinson

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available We report a methodology for labeling the GABAc receptor on the surface membrane of intact cells. This work builds upon our earlier work with serotonin-conjugated quantum dots and our studies with PEGylated quantum dots to reduce nonspecific binding. In the current approach, a PEGylated derivative of muscimol was synthesized and attached via an amide linkage to quantum dots coated in an amphiphilic polymer derivative of a modified polyacrylamide. These conjugates were used to image GABAC receptors heterologously expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes.

  5. Simulation of quantum dots size and spacing effect for intermediate band solar cell application based on InAs quantum dots arrangement in GaAs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hendra, P. I. B., E-mail: ib.hendra@gmail.com; Rahayu, F., E-mail: ib.hendra@gmail.com; Darma, Y., E-mail: ib.hendra@gmail.com [Physical Vapor Deposition Laboratory, Physics of Material Electronics Research, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132 (Indonesia)

    2014-03-24

    Intermediate band solar cell (IBSC) has become a promising technology in increasing solar cell efficiency. In this work we compare absorption coefficient profile between InAs quantum dots with GaAs bulk. We calculate the efficiency of GaAs bulk and GaAs doped with 2, 5, and 10 nm InAs quantum dot. Effective distances in quantum dot arrangement based on electron tunneling consideration were also calculated. We presented a simple calculation method with low computing power demand. Results showed that arrangement of quantum dot InAs in GaAs can increase solar cell efficiency from 23.9 % initially up to 60.4%. The effective distance between two quantum dots was found 2 nm in order to give adequate distance to prevent electron tunneling and wave functions overlap.

  6. Design strategy for terahertz quantum dot cascade lasers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burnett, Benjamin A; Williams, Benjamin S

    2016-10-31

    The development of quantum dot cascade lasers has been proposed as a path to obtain terahertz semiconductor lasers that operate at room temperature. The expected benefit is due to the suppression of nonradiative electron-phonon scattering and reduced dephasing that accompanies discretization of the electronic energy spectrum. We present numerical modeling which predicts that simple scaling of conventional quantum well based designs to the quantum dot regime will likely fail due to electrical instability associated with high-field domain formation. A design strategy adapted for terahertz quantum dot cascade lasers is presented which avoids these problems. Counterintuitively, this involves the resonant depopulation of the laser's upper state with the LO-phonon energy. The strategy is tested theoretically using a density matrix model of transport and gain, which predicts sufficient gain for lasing at stable operating points. Finally, the effect of quantum dot size inhomogeneity on the optical lineshape is explored, suggesting that the design concept is robust to a moderate amount of statistical variation.

  7. Field-emission from quantum-dot-in-perovskite solids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García de Arquer, F Pelayo; Gong, Xiwen; Sabatini, Randy P; Liu, Min; Kim, Gi-Hwan; Sutherland, Brandon R; Voznyy, Oleksandr; Xu, Jixian; Pang, Yuangjie; Hoogland, Sjoerd; Sinton, David; Sargent, Edward

    2017-03-24

    Quantum dot and well architectures are attractive for infrared optoelectronics, and have led to the realization of compelling light sensors. However, they require well-defined passivated interfaces and rapid charge transport, and this has restricted their efficient implementation to costly vacuum-epitaxially grown semiconductors. Here we report solution-processed, sensitive infrared field-emission photodetectors. Using quantum-dots-in-perovskite, we demonstrate the extraction of photocarriers via field emission, followed by the recirculation of photogenerated carriers. We use in operando ultrafast transient spectroscopy to sense bias-dependent photoemission and recapture in field-emission devices. The resultant photodiodes exploit the superior electronic transport properties of organometal halide perovskites, the quantum-size-tuned absorption of the colloidal quantum dots and their matched interface. These field-emission quantum-dot-in-perovskite photodiodes extend the perovskite response into the short-wavelength infrared and achieve measured specific detectivities that exceed 10 12 Jones. The results pave the way towards novel functional photonic devices with applications in photovoltaics and light emission.

  8. Hexagonal graphene quantum dots

    KAUST Repository

    Ghosh, Sumit; Schwingenschlö gl, Udo

    2016-01-01

    We study hexagonal graphene quantum dots, using density functional theory, to obtain a quantitative description of the electronic properties and their size dependence, considering disk and ring geometries with both armchair and zigzag edges. We show that the electronic properties of quantum dots with armchair edges are more sensitive to structural details than those with zigzag edges. As functions of the inner and outer radii, we find in the case of armchair edges that the size of the band gap follows distinct branches, while in the case of zigzag edges it changes monotonically. This behaviour is further analyzed by studying the ground state wave function and explained in terms of its localisation.

  9. Hexagonal graphene quantum dots

    KAUST Repository

    Ghosh, Sumit

    2016-12-05

    We study hexagonal graphene quantum dots, using density functional theory, to obtain a quantitative description of the electronic properties and their size dependence, considering disk and ring geometries with both armchair and zigzag edges. We show that the electronic properties of quantum dots with armchair edges are more sensitive to structural details than those with zigzag edges. As functions of the inner and outer radii, we find in the case of armchair edges that the size of the band gap follows distinct branches, while in the case of zigzag edges it changes monotonically. This behaviour is further analyzed by studying the ground state wave function and explained in terms of its localisation.

  10. Characteristics of photocurrent generation in the near-ultraviolet region in Si quantum-dot sensitized solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uchida, Giichiro; Sato, Muneharu; Seo, Hyunwoong; Kamataki, Kunihiro; Itagaki, Naho; Koga, Kazunori; Shiratani, Masaharu

    2013-01-01

    We have studied photocurrent generation in Si quantum-dot (QD) sensitized solar cells, where QD thin films composed of Si nanoparticles were deposited using the double multi-hollow discharge plasma chemical vapor deposition process in an SiH 4 /H 2 and CH 4 or N 2 gas mixture. The short-circuit current density of the Si QD sensitized solar cells increases by a factor of 2.5 by using Si nanoparticles prepared by irradiation of CH 4 or N 2 plasma onto the Si nanoparticle surface. We have measured incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) in the near-ultraviolet range using quartz-glass front panels of the QD sensitized solar cells. With decreasing the wavelength of irradiation light, IPCE gradually increases upon light irradiation in a wavelength range less than about 600 nm, and then steeply increases below 300 nm, corresponding to 2.2 times the optical band-gap energy of Si QD film. - Highlights: • We have developed on Si quantum-dot sensitized solar cells using Si particles. • Current of solar cells increases by surface-termination of Si particles. • Incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency increases below 300 nm

  11. [Effect of quantum dots CdSe/ZnS's concentration on its fluorescence].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Min; Huang, Yu-hua; Luo, Ji-xiang

    2015-02-01

    The authors measured the absorption and the fluorescence spectra of the quantum dots CdSe/ZnS with 4 nm in size at different concentration with the use of the UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence spectrometer. The effect of quantum dots CdSe/ZnS's concentration on its fluorescence was especially studied and its physical mechanism was analyzed. It was observed that the optimal concentration of the quantum dots CdSe/ZnS for fluorescence is 2 micromole x L(-1). When the quantum dot's concentration is over 2 micromol x L(-1), the fluorescence is decreased with the increase in the concentration. While the quantum dot's concentration is less than 2 micromol x L(-1), the fluorescence is decreased with the decrease in the concentration. There are two main reasons: (1) fluorescence quenching and 2) the competition between absorption and fluorescence. When the quantum dot's concentration is over 2 micromol x L(-1), the distance between quantum dots is so close that the fluorescence quenching is induced. The closer the distance between quantum dots is, the more serious the fluorescence quenching is induced. Also, in this case, the absorption is so large that some of the quantum dots can not be excited because the incident light can not pass through the whole sample. As a result, the fluorescence is decreased with the increase in the quantum dot's concentration. As the quantum dot's concentration is below 2 micromol x L(-1), the distance between quantum dots is far enough that no more fluorescence quenching is induced. In this case, the fluorescence is determined by the particle number per unit volume. More particle number per unit volume produces more fluorescence. Therefore, the fluorescence is decreased with the decrease in the quantum dot's concentration.

  12. Coupled quantum dot-ring structures by droplet epitaxy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Somaschini, C; Bietti, S; Koguchi, N; Sanguinetti, S

    2011-01-01

    The fabrication, by pure self-assembly, of GaAs/AlGaAs dot-ring quantum nanostructures is presented. The growth is performed via droplet epitaxy, which allows for the fine control, through As flux and substrate temperature, of the crystallization kinetics of nanometer scale metallic Ga reservoirs deposited on the surface. Such a procedure permits the combination of quantum dots and quantum rings into a single, multi-functional, complex quantum nanostructure.

  13. Complex dynamics in planar two-electron quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schroeter, Sebastian Josef Arthur

    2013-01-01

    Quantum dots play an important role in a wide range of recent experimental and technological developments. In particular they are promising candidates for realisations of quantum bits and further applications in quantum information theory. The harmonically confined Hooke's atom model is experimentally verified and separates in centre-of-mass and relative coordinates. Findings that are contradictory to this separability call for an extension of the model, in particular changing the confinement potential. In order to study effects of an anharmonic confinement potential on spectral properties of planar two-electron quantum dots a sophisticated numerical approach is developed. Comparison between the Helium atom, Hooke's atom and an anharmonic potential model are undertaken in order to improve the description of quantum dots. Classical and quantum features of complexity and chaos are investigated and used to characterise the dynamics of the system to be mixed regular-chaotic. Influence of decoherence can be described by quantum fidelity, which measures the effect of a perturbation on the time evolution. The quantum fidelity of eigenstates of the system depends strongly on the properties of the perturbation. Several methods for solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation are implemented and a high level of accuracy for long time evolutions is achieved. The concept of offset entanglement, the entanglement of harmonic models in the noninteracting limit, is introduced. This concept explains different questions raised in the literature for harmonic quantum dot models, recently. It shows that only in the groundstate the electrons are not entangled in the fermionic sense. The applicability, validity, and origin of Hund's first rule in general quantum dot models is further addressed. In fact Hund's first rule is only applicable, and in this case also valid, for one pair of singlet and triplet states in Hooke's atom. For more realistic models of two-electron quantum dots an

  14. Structural Investigations of GaAs/AIAs quantum wires and quantum dots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Darhuber, A.A.; Bauer, G.; Wang, P.D.; Song, Y.P.; Sotomayor Torres, C.M.; Holland, M.C.

    1995-01-01

    We have investigated periodic arrays of dry etched 150 nm and 175 nm wide, (110) oriented GaAs/AlAs quantum wires and quantum dots by means of reciprocal-space mapping using triple-axis X-ray diffractometry. From the X-ray data the lateral periodicity of wires and dots, the etch depth and the angle

  15. Non-blinking quantum dot with a plasmonic nanoshell resonator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Botao; Giovanelli, Emerson; Habert, Benjamin; Spinicelli, Piernicola; Nasilowski, Michel; Xu, Xiangzhen; Lequeux, Nicolas; Hugonin, Jean-Paul; Marquier, Francois; Greffet, Jean-Jacques; Dubertret, Benoit

    2015-02-01

    Colloidal semiconductor quantum dots are fluorescent nanocrystals exhibiting exceptional optical properties, but their emission intensity strongly depends on their charging state and local environment. This leads to blinking at the single-particle level or even complete fluorescence quenching, and limits the applications of quantum dots as fluorescent particles. Here, we show that a single quantum dot encapsulated in a silica shell coated with a continuous gold nanoshell provides a system with a stable and Poissonian emission at room temperature that is preserved regardless of drastic changes in the local environment. This novel hybrid quantum dot/silica/gold structure behaves as a plasmonic resonator with a strong Purcell factor, in very good agreement with simulations. The gold nanoshell also acts as a shield that protects the quantum dot fluorescence and enhances its resistance to high-power photoexcitation or high-energy electron beams. This plasmonic fluorescent resonator opens the way to a new family of plasmonic nanoemitters with robust optical properties.

  16. Room-temperature dephasing in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Borri, Paola; Langbein, Wolfgang; Hvam, Jørn Märcher

    1999-01-01

    Summary form only given. Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are receiving increasing attention for fundamental studies on zero-dimensional confinement and for device applications. Quantum-dot lasers are expected to show superior performances, like high material gain, low and temperature...... stacked layers of InAs-InGaAs-GaAs quantum dots....

  17. Quantum dot-linked immunosorbent assay (QLISA) using orientation-directed antibodies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Miho; Udaka, Hikari; Fukuda, Takeshi

    2017-09-05

    An approach similar to the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), with the advantage of saving time and effort but exhibiting high performance, was developed using orientation-directed half-part antibodies immobilized on CdSe/ZnS quantum dots. ELISA is a widely accepted assay used to detect the presence of a target substance. However, it takes time to quantify the target with specificity and sensitivity owing to signal amplification. In this study, CdSe/ZnS quantum dots are introduced as bright and photobleaching-tolerant fluorescent materials. Since hydrophilic surface coating of quantum dots rendered biocompatibility and functional groups for chemical reactions, the quantum dots were modified with half-sized antibodies after partial reduction. The half-sized antibody could be bound to a quantum dot through a unique thiol site to properly display the recognition domain for the core process of ELISA, which is an antigen-antibody interaction. The reducing conditions were investigated to generate efficient conjugates of quantum dots and half-sized antibodies. This was applied to IL-6 detection, as the quantification of IL-6 is significant owing to its close relationships with various biomedical phenomena that cause different diseases. An ELISA-like assay with CdSe/ZnS quantum dot institution (QLISA; Quantum dot-linked immunosorbent assay) was developed to detect 0.05ng/mL IL-6, which makes it sufficiently sensitive as an immunosorbent assay. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Vacuum-induced coherence in quantum dot systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sitek, Anna; Machnikowski, Paweł

    2012-11-01

    We present a theoretical study of vacuum-induced coherence in a pair of vertically stacked semiconductor quantum dots. The process consists in a coherent excitation transfer from a single-exciton state localized in one dot to a delocalized state in which the exciton occupation gets trapped. We study the influence of the factors characteristic of quantum dot systems (as opposed to natural atoms): energy mismatch, coupling between the single-exciton states localized in different dots, and different and nonparallel dipoles due to sub-band mixing, as well as coupling to phonons. We show that the destructive effect of the energy mismatch can be overcome by an appropriate interplay of the dipole moments and coupling between the dots which allows one to observe the trapping effect even in a structure with technologically realistic energy splitting of the order of milli-electron volts. We also analyze the impact of phonon dynamics on the occupation trapping and show that phonon effects are suppressed in a certain range of system parameters. This analysis shows that the vacuum-induced coherence effect and the associated long-living trapped excitonic population can be achieved in quantum dots.

  19. Optical Two-Dimensional Spectroscopy of Disordered Semiconductor Quantum Wells and Quantum Dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cundiff, Steven T. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

    2016-05-03

    This final report describes the activities undertaken under grant "Optical Two-Dimensional Spectroscopy of Disordered Semiconductor Quantum Wells and Quantum Dots". The goal of this program was to implement optical 2-dimensional Fourier transform spectroscopy and apply it to electronic excitations, including excitons, in semiconductors. Specifically of interest are quantum wells that exhibit disorder due to well width fluctuations and quantum dots. In both cases, 2-D spectroscopy will provide information regarding coupling among excitonic localization sites.

  20. Systematic optimization of quantum junction colloidal quantum dot solar cells

    KAUST Repository

    Liu, Huan; Zhitomirsky, David; Hoogland, Sjoerd; Tang, Jiang; Kramer, Illan J.; Ning, Zhijun; Sargent, Edward H.

    2012-01-01

    The recently reported quantum junction architecture represents a promising approach to building a rectifying photovoltaic device that employs colloidal quantum dot layers on each side of the p-n junction. Here, we report an optimized quantum

  1. Quantum computation in semiconductor quantum dots of electron-spin asymmetric anisotropic exchange

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hao Xiang; Zhu Shiqun

    2007-01-01

    The universal quantum computation is obtained when there exists asymmetric anisotropic exchange between electron spins in coupled semiconductor quantum dots. The asymmetric Heisenberg model can be transformed into the isotropic model through the control of two local unitary rotations for the realization of essential quantum gates. The rotations on each qubit are symmetrical and depend on the strength and orientation of asymmetric exchange. The implementation of the axially symmetric local magnetic fields can assist the construction of quantum logic gates in anisotropic coupled quantum dots. This proposal can efficiently use each physical electron spin as a logical qubit in the universal quantum computation

  2. Detecting the chirality for coupled quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cao Huijuan; Hu Lian

    2008-01-01

    We propose a scheme to detect the chirality for a system consisting of three coupled quantum dots. The chirality is found to be determined by the frequency of the transition between chiral states under the chiral symmetry broken perturbation. The results are important to construct quantum gates and to demonstrate chiral entangle states in the triangle spin dots

  3. Quantitative characterization of nanoparticle agglomeration within biological media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hondow, Nicole; Brydson, Rik; Wang, Peiyi; Holton, Mark D.; Brown, M. Rowan; Rees, Paul; Summers, Huw D.; Brown, Andy

    2012-01-01

    Quantitative analysis of nanoparticle dispersion state within biological media is essential to understanding cellular uptake and the roles of diffusion, sedimentation, and endocytosis in determining nanoparticle dose. The dispersion of polymer-coated CdTe/ZnS quantum dots in water and cell growth medium with and without fetal bovine serum was analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) techniques. Characterization by TEM of samples prepared by plunge freezing the blotted solutions into liquid ethane was sensitive to the dispersion state of the quantum dots and enabled measurement of agglomerate size distributions even in the presence of serum proteins where DLS failed. In addition, TEM showed a reduced packing fraction of quantum dots per agglomerate when dispersed in biological media and serum compared to just water, highlighting the effect of interactions between the media, serum proteins, and the quantum dots. The identification of a heterogeneous distribution of quantum dots and quantum dot agglomerates in cell growth medium and serum by TEM will enable correlation with the previously reported optical metrology of in vitro cellular uptake of this quantum dot dispersion. In this paper, we present a comparative study of TEM and DLS and show that plunge-freeze TEM provides a robust assessment of nanoparticle agglomeration state.

  4. Production of three-dimensional quantum dot lattice of Ge/Si core-shell quantum dots and Si/Ge layers in an alumina glass matrix.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buljan, M; Radić, N; Sancho-Paramon, J; Janicki, V; Grenzer, J; Bogdanović-Radović, I; Siketić, Z; Ivanda, M; Utrobičić, A; Hübner, R; Weidauer, R; Valeš, V; Endres, J; Car, T; Jerčinović, M; Roško, J; Bernstorff, S; Holy, V

    2015-02-13

    We report on the formation of Ge/Si quantum dots with core/shell structure that are arranged in a three-dimensional body centered tetragonal quantum dot lattice in an amorphous alumina matrix. The material is prepared by magnetron sputtering deposition of Al2O3/Ge/Si multilayer. The inversion of Ge and Si in the deposition sequence results in the formation of thin Si/Ge layers instead of the dots. Both materials show an atomically sharp interface between the Ge and Si parts of the dots and layers. They have an amorphous internal structure that can be crystallized by an annealing treatment. The light absorption properties of these complex materials are significantly different compared to films that form quantum dot lattices of the pure Ge, Si or a solid solution of GeSi. They show a strong narrow absorption peak that characterizes a type II confinement in accordance with theoretical predictions. The prepared materials are promising for application in quantum dot solar cells.

  5. Using silicon-coated gold nanoparticles to enhance the fluorescence of CdTe quantum dot and improve the sensing ability of mercury (II)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Jian; Chang, Hui; Li, Jian-Jun; Li, Xin; Zhao, Jun-Wu

    2018-01-01

    The effect of silicon-coated gold nanoparticles with different gold core diameter and silica shell thickness on the fluorescence emission of CdTe quantum dots (QDs) was investigated. For gold nanoparticles with a diameter of 15 nm, silica coating can only results in fluorescence recover of the bare gold nanoparticle-induced quenching of QDs. However, when the size of gold nanoparticle is increased to 60 nm, fluorescence enhancement of the QDs could be obtained by silica coating. Because of the isolation of the silica shell-reduced quenching effect and local electric field effect, the fluorescence of QDs gets intense firstly and then decreases. The maximum fluorescence enhancement takes place as the silica shell has a thickness of 30 nm. This enhanced fluorescence from silicon-coated gold nanoparticles is demonstrated for sensing of Hg2 +. Under optimal conditions, the enhanced fluorescence intensity decreases linearly with the concentration of Hg2 + ranging from 0 to 200 ng/mL. The limit of detection for Hg2 + is 1.25 ng/mL. Interference test and real samples detection indicate that the influence from other metal ions could be neglected, and the Hg2 + could be specifically detected.

  6. Facilitated preparation of bioconjugatable zwitterionic quantum dots using dual-lipid encapsulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shrake, Robert; Demillo, Violeta G; Ahmadiantehrani, Mojtaba; Zhu, Xiaoshan; Publicover, Nelson G; Hunter, Kenneth W

    2015-01-01

    Zwitterionic quantum dots prepared through incorporated zwitterionic ligands on quantum dot surfaces, are being paid significant attention in biomedical applications because of their excellent colloidal stability across a wide pH and ionic strength range, antifouling surface, good biocompatibility, etc. In this work, we report a dual-lipid encapsulation approach to prepare bioconjugatable zwitterionic quantum dots using amidosulfobetaine-16 lipids, dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine lipids with functional head groups, and CuInS2/ZnS quantum dots in a tetrahydrofuran/methanol/water solvent system with sonication. Amidosulfobetaine-16 is a zwitterionic lipid and dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine, with its functional head, provides bioconjugation capability. Under sonication, tetrahydrofuran/methanol containing amidosulfobetaine-16, dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine, and hydrophobic quantum dots are dispersed in water to form droplets. Highly water-soluble tetrahydrofuran/methanol in droplets is further displaced by water, which induces the lipid self-assembling on hydrophobic surface of quantum dots and thus forms water soluble zwitterionic quantum dots. The prepared zwitterionic quantum dots maintain colloidal stability in aqueous solutions with high salinity and over a wide pH range. They are also able to be conjugated with biomolecules for bioassay with minimal nonspecific binding. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. In vivo cation exchange in quantum dots for tumor-specific imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xiangyou; Braun, Gary B; Qin, Mingde; Ruoslahti, Erkki; Sugahara, Kazuki N

    2017-08-24

    In vivo tumor imaging with nanoprobes suffers from poor tumor specificity. Here, we introduce a nanosystem, which allows selective background quenching to gain exceptionally tumor-specific signals. The system uses near-infrared quantum dots and a membrane-impermeable etchant, which serves as a cation donor. The etchant rapidly quenches the quantum dots through cation exchange (ionic etching), and facilitates renal clearance of metal ions released from the quantum dots. The quantum dots are intravenously delivered into orthotopic breast and pancreas tumors in mice by using the tumor-penetrating iRGD peptide. Subsequent etching quenches excess quantum dots, leaving a highly tumor-specific signal provided by the intact quantum dots remaining in the extravascular tumor cells and fibroblasts. No toxicity is noted. The system also facilitates the detection of peritoneal tumors with high specificity upon intraperitoneal tumor targeting and selective etching of excess untargeted quantum dots. In vivo cation exchange may be a promising strategy to enhance specificity of tumor imaging.The imaging of tumors in vivo using nanoprobes has been challenging due to the lack of sufficient tumor specificity. Here, the authors develop a tumor-specific quantum dot system that permits in vivo cation exchange to achieve selective background quenching and high tumor-specific imaging.

  8. Size dependence in tunneling spectra of PbSe quantum-dot arrays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ou, Y C; Cheng, S F; Jian, W B

    2009-07-15

    Interdot Coulomb interactions and collective Coulomb blockade were theoretically argued to be a newly important topic, and experimentally identified in semiconductor quantum dots, formed in the gate confined two-dimensional electron gas system. Developments of cluster science and colloidal synthesis accelerated the studies of electron transport in colloidal nanocrystal or quantum-dot solids. To study the interdot coupling, various sizes of two-dimensional arrays of colloidal PbSe quantum dots are self-assembled on flat gold surfaces for scanning tunneling microscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements at both room and liquid-nitrogen temperatures. The tip-to-array, array-to-substrate, and interdot capacitances are evaluated and the tunneling spectra of quantum-dot arrays are analyzed by the theory of collective Coulomb blockade. The current-voltage of PbSe quantum-dot arrays conforms properly to a scaling power law function. In this study, the dependence of tunneling spectra on the sizes (numbers of quantum dots) of arrays is reported and the capacitive coupling between quantum dots in the arrays is explored.

  9. Fluorescence from a quantum dot and metallic nanosphere hybrid system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schindel, Daniel G. [Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E9 (Canada); Singh, Mahi R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON, N6A 3K7 (Canada)

    2014-03-31

    We present energy absorption and interference in a quantum dot-metallic nanosphere system embedded on a dielectric substrate. A control field is applied to induce dipole moments in the nanosphere and the quantum dot, and a probe field is applied to monitor absorption. Dipole moments in the quantum dot or the metal nanosphere are induced, both by the external fields and by each other's dipole fields. Thus, in addition to direct polarization, the metal nanosphere and the quantum dot will sense one another via the dipole-dipole interaction. The density matrix method was used to show that the absorption spectrum can be split from one peak to two peaks by the control field, and this can also be done by placing the metal sphere close to the quantum dot. When the two are extremely close together, a self-interaction in the quantum dot produces an asymmetry in the absorption peaks. In addition, the fluorescence efficiency can be quenched by the addition of a metal nanosphere. This hybrid system could be used to create ultra-fast switching and sensing nanodevices.

  10. Laterally coupled jellium-like two-dimensional quantum dots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Markvoort, Albert. J.; Hilbers, P.A.J.; Pino, R.

    2003-01-01

    Many studies have been performed to describe quantum dots using a parabolic confining potential. However, infinite potentials are unphysical and lead to problems when describing laterally coupled quantum dots. We propose the use of the parabolic potential of a homogeneous density distribution within

  11. Optical dynamics in low-dimensional semiconductor heterostructures. Quantum dots and quantum cascade lasers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weber, Carsten

    2008-07-01

    This work is focused on the optical dynamics of mesoscopic semiconductor heterostructures, using as prototypes zero-dimensional quantum dots and quantum cascade lasers which consist of quasitwo- dimensional quantum wells. Within a density matrix theory, a microscopic many-particle theory is applied to study scattering effects in these structures: the coupling to external as well as local fields, electron-phonon coupling, coupling to impurities, and Coulomb coupling. For both systems, the investigated effects are compared to experimentally observed results obtained during the past years. In quantum dots, the three-dimensional spatial confinement leads to the necessity to consider a quantum kinetic description of the dynamics, resulting in non-Markovian electron-phonon effects. This can be seen in the spectral phonon sidebands due to interaction with acoustic phonons as well as a damping of nonlinear Rabi oscillations which shows a nonmonotonous intensity and pulse duration dependence. An analysis of the inclusion of the self-interaction of the quantum dot shows that no dynamical local field terms appear for the simple two-level model. Considering local fields which have their origin in many quantum dots, consequences for a two-level quantum dot such as a zero-phonon line broadening and an increasing signal in photon echo experiments are found. For the use of quantum dots in an optical spin control scheme, it is found that the dephasing due to the electron-phonon interaction can be dominant in certain regimes. Furthermore, soliton and breather solutions are studied analytically in nonlinear quantum dot ensembles. Generalizing to quasi-two-dimensional structures, the intersubband dynamics of quantum cascade laser structures is investigated. A dynamical theory is considered in which the temporal evolution of the subband populations and the current density as well as the influence of scattering effects is studied. In the nonlinear regime, the scattering dependence and

  12. Templated self-assembly of quantum dots from aqueous solution using protein scaffolds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Blum, Amy Szuchmacher [Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering, Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Soto, Carissa M [Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering, Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Wilson, Charmaine D [Geo-Centers, Incorporated, Newton, MA 02459 (United States); Whitley, Jessica L [Geo-Centers, Incorporated, Newton, MA 02459 (United States); Moore, Martin H [Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering, Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Sapsford, Kim E [George Mason University, 10910 University Boulevard, Manassas, VA 20110 (United States); Lin, Tianwei [Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037 (United States); Chatterji, Anju [Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037 (United States); Johnson, John E [Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037 (United States); Ratna, Banahalli R [Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering, Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20375 (United States)

    2006-10-28

    Short, histidine-containing peptides can be conjugated to lysine-containing protein scaffolds to controllably attach quantum dots (QDs) to the scaffold, allowing for generic attachment of quantum dots to any protein without the use of specially engineered domains. This technique was used to bind quantum dots from aqueous solution to both chicken IgG and cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV), a 30 nm viral particle. These quantum dot-protein assemblies were studied in detail. The IgG-QD complexes were shown to retain binding specificity to their antigen after modification. The CPMV-QD complexes have a local concentration of quantum dots greater than 3000 nmol ml{sup -1}, and show a 15% increase in fluorescence quantum yield over free quantum dots in solution.

  13. Antibacterial Activity of Silver-Graphene Quantum Dots Nanocomposites Against Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Habiba, Khaled (Inventor); Makarov, Vladimir (Inventor); Weiner, Brad R (Inventor); Morell, Gerardo (Inventor)

    2018-01-01

    The invention provides a composite of silver nanoparticles decorated with graphene quantum dots (Ag-GQDs) using pulsed laser synthesis. The nanocomposites were functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG). A concentration of 150 .mu.g/mL of Ag-GQDs, a non-toxic level for human cells, exhibits strong antibacterial activity against both Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria.

  14. Functional-dependent and size-dependent uptake of nanoparticles in PC12

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sakai, N; Matsui, Y; Nakayama, A; Yoneda, M; Tsuda, A

    2011-01-01

    It is suggested that the uptake of nanoparticles is changed by the particle size or the surface modification. In this study, we quantified the uptake of nanoparticles in PC12 cells exposed Quantum Dots with different surface modification or fluorescent polystyrene particles with different particle size. The PC12 cells were exposed three types of the Quantum Dots (carboxyl base-functionalized, amino base-functionalized or non-base-functionalized) or three types of the fluorescent particles (22 nm, 100 nm or 1000 nm) for 3 hours. The uptake of the nanoparticles was quantified with a spectrofluorophotometer. The carboxyl base-functionalized Quantum Dots were considerably taken up by the cells than the non-base-functionalized Quantum Dots. Conversely, the amino base-functionalized Quantum Dots were taken up by the cells less frequently than the non-base-functionalized Quantum Dots. The particle number of the 22 nm-nanoparticles taken up by the cells was about 53 times higher than the 100 nm-particles. However, the particle weight of the 100 nm-particles taken up by the cells was higher than that of the 22 nm-nanoparticles. The 1000 nm-particles were adhered to the cell membrane, but they were little taken up by the cells. We concluded that nanoparticles can be taken up nerve cells in functional-dependent and size-dependent manners.

  15. Charge transport in quantum dot organic solar cells with Si quantum dots sandwiched between poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) absorber and bathocuproine (BCP) transport layers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verma, Upendra Kumar; Kumar, Brijesh

    2017-10-01

    We have modeled a multilayer quantum dot organic solar cell that explores the current-voltage characteristic of the solar cell whose characteristics can be tuned by varying the fabrication parameters of the quantum dots (QDs). The modeled device consists of a hole transport layer (HTL) which doubles up as photon absorbing layer, several quantum dot layers, and an electron transport layer (ETL). The conduction of charge carriers in HTL and ETL has been modeled by the drift-diffusion transport mechanism. The conduction and recombination in the quantum dot layers are described by a system of coupled rate equations incorporating tunneling and bimolecular recombination. Analysis of QD-solar cells shows improved device performance compared to the similar bilayer and trilayer device structures without QDs. Keeping other design parameters constant, solar cell characteristics can be controlled by the quantum dot layers. Bimolecular recombination coefficient of quantum dots is a prime factor which controls the open circuit voltage (VOC) without any significant reduction in short circuit current (JSC).

  16. Bit-Serial Adder Based on Quantum Dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fijany, Amir; Toomarian, Nikzad; Modarress, Katayoon; Spotnitz, Mathew

    2003-01-01

    A proposed integrated circuit based on quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) would function as a bit-serial adder. This circuit would serve as a prototype building block for demonstrating the feasibility of quantum-dots computing and for the further development of increasingly complex and increasingly capable quantum-dots computing circuits. QCA-based bit-serial adders would be especially useful in that they would enable the development of highly parallel and systolic processors for implementing fast Fourier, cosine, Hartley, and wavelet transforms. The proposed circuit would complement the QCA-based circuits described in "Implementing Permutation Matrices by Use of Quantum Dots" (NPO-20801), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 25, No. 10 (October 2001), page 42 and "Compact Interconnection Networks Based on Quantum Dots" (NPO-20855), which appears elsewhere in this issue. Those articles described the limitations of very-large-scale-integrated (VLSI) circuitry and the major potential advantage afforded by QCA. To recapitulate: In a VLSI circuit, signal paths that are required not to interact with each other must not cross in the same plane. In contrast, for reasons too complex to describe in the limited space available for this article, suitably designed and operated QCA-based signal paths that are required not to interact with each other can nevertheless be allowed to cross each other in the same plane without adverse effect. In principle, this characteristic could be exploited to design compact, coplanar, simple (relative to VLSI) QCA-based networks to implement complex, advanced interconnection schemes. To enable a meaningful description of the proposed bit-serial adder, it is necessary to further recapitulate the description of a quantum-dot cellular automation from the first-mentioned prior article: A quantum-dot cellular automaton contains four quantum dots positioned at the corners of a square cell. The cell contains two extra mobile electrons that can tunnel (in the

  17. Stark effect and polarizability of graphene quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Thomas Garm

    2017-01-01

    The properties of graphene quantum dots can be manipulated via lateral electric fields. Treating electrons in such structures as confined massless Dirac fermions, we derive an analytical expression for the quadratic Stark shift valid for arbitrary angular momentum and quantum dot size. Moreover, we...

  18. Morphology controllable time-dependent CoS nanoparticle thin films as efficient counter electrode for quantum dot-sensitized solar cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddy, Araveeti Eswar; Rao, S. Srinivasa; Gopi, Chandu V. V. M.; Anitha, Tarugu; Thulasi-Varma, Chebrolu Venkata; Punnoose, Dinah; Kim, Hee-Je

    2017-11-01

    Cobalt sulfide (CoS) agglomerated nanoparticle thin films obtained by a facile chemical bath method at different deposition times. The CoS counter electrode (CE) deposited at 3 h deposition time (CC-3h) based quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) achieves higher power conversion efficiency (η) of 3.67% than those of CC-2h (1.83%), CC-4h (2.52%), and Pt (1.48%) CEs, under one sun illumination (100 mW cm-2, AM 1.5 G). The electrochemical analysis revealed that CC-3h CE shows a smaller charge transfer resistance (9.22 Ω) at the CE/electrolyte interface than the CC-2h (23.34 Ω), CC-4h (19.73 Ω) and Pt (139.92 Ω) CEs, respectively.

  19. Two-electrons quantum dot in plasmas under the external fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahar, M. K.; Soylu, A.

    2018-02-01

    In this study, for the first time, the combined effects of the external electric field, magnetic field, and confinement frequency on energies of two-electron parabolic quantum dots in Debye and quantum plasmas modeled by more general exponential cosine screened Coulomb (MGECSC) potential are investigated by numerically solving the Schrödinger equation using the asymptotic iteration method. The MGECSC potential includes four different potential forms when considering different sets of the parameters in potential. Since the plasma is an important experimental argument for quantum dots, the influence of plasmas modeled by the MGECSC potential on quantum dots is probed. The confinement frequency of quantum dots and the external fields created significant quantum restrictions on quantum dot. In this study, as well as discussion of the functionalities of the quantum restrictions for experimental applications, the parameters are also compared with each other in terms of influence and behaviour. In this manner, the motivation points of this study are summarized as follows: Which parameter can be alternative to which parameter, in terms of experimental applications? Which parameters exhibit similar behaviour? What is the role of plasmas on the corresponding behaviours? In the light of these research studies, it can be said that obtained results and performed discussions would be important in experimental and theoretical research related to plasma physics and/or quantum dots.

  20. Numerical simulation of optical feedback on a quantum dot lasers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-Khursan, Amin H., E-mail: ameen_2all@yahoo.com [Thi-Qar University, Nassiriya Nanotechnology Research Laboratory (NNRL), Science College (Iraq); Ghalib, Basim Abdullattif [Babylon University, Laser Physics Department, Science College for Women (Iraq); Al-Obaidi, Sabri J. [Al-Mustansiriyah University, Physics Department, Science College (Iraq)

    2012-02-15

    We use multi-population rate equations model to study feedback oscillations in the quantum dot laser. This model takes into account all peculiar characteristics in the quantum dots such as inhomogeneous broadening of the gain spectrum, the presence of the excited states on the quantum dot and the non-confined states due to the presence of wetting layer and the barrier. The contribution of quantum dot groups, which cannot follow by other models, is simulated. The results obtained from this model show the feedback oscillations, the periodic oscillations which evolves to chaos at higher injection current of higher feedback levels. The frequency fluctuation is attributed mainly to wetting layer with a considerable contribution from excited states. The simulation shows that is must be not using simple rate equation models to express quantum dots working at excited state transition.

  1. Magneto-optical absorption in semiconducting spherical quantum dots: Influence of the dot-size, confining potential, and magnetic field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manvir S. Kushwaha

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Semiconducting quantum dots – more fancifully dubbed artificial atoms – are quasi-zero dimensional, tiny, man-made systems with charge carriers completely confined in all three dimensions. The scientific quest behind the synthesis of quantum dots is to create and control future electronic and optical nanostructures engineered through tailoring size, shape, and composition. The complete confinement – or the lack of any degree of freedom for the electrons (and/or holes – in quantum dots limits the exploration of spatially localized elementary excitations such as plasmons to direct rather than reciprocal space. Here we embark on a thorough investigation of the magneto-optical absorption in semiconducting spherical quantum dots characterized by a confining harmonic potential and an applied magnetic field in the symmetric gauge. This is done within the framework of Bohm-Pines’ random-phase approximation that enables us to derive and discuss the full Dyson equation that takes proper account of the Coulomb interactions. As an application of our theoretical strategy, we compute various single-particle and many-particle phenomena such as the Fock-Darwin spectrum; Fermi energy; magneto-optical transitions; probability distribution; and the magneto-optical absorption in the quantum dots. It is observed that the role of an applied magnetic field on the absorption spectrum is comparable to that of a confining potential. Increasing (decreasing the strength of the magnetic field or the confining potential is found to be analogous to shrinking (expanding the size of the quantum dots: resulting into a blue (red shift in the absorption spectrum. The Fermi energy diminishes with both increasing magnetic-field and dot-size; and exhibits saw-tooth-like oscillations at large values of field or dot-size. Unlike laterally confined quantum dots, both (upper and lower magneto-optical transitions survive even in the extreme instances. However, the intra

  2. Magneto-optical absorption in semiconducting spherical quantum dots: Influence of the dot-size, confining potential, and magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kushwaha, Manvir S. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 (United States)

    2014-12-15

    Semiconducting quantum dots – more fancifully dubbed artificial atoms – are quasi-zero dimensional, tiny, man-made systems with charge carriers completely confined in all three dimensions. The scientific quest behind the synthesis of quantum dots is to create and control future electronic and optical nanostructures engineered through tailoring size, shape, and composition. The complete confinement – or the lack of any degree of freedom for the electrons (and/or holes) – in quantum dots limits the exploration of spatially localized elementary excitations such as plasmons to direct rather than reciprocal space. Here we embark on a thorough investigation of the magneto-optical absorption in semiconducting spherical quantum dots characterized by a confining harmonic potential and an applied magnetic field in the symmetric gauge. This is done within the framework of Bohm-Pines’ random-phase approximation that enables us to derive and discuss the full Dyson equation that takes proper account of the Coulomb interactions. As an application of our theoretical strategy, we compute various single-particle and many-particle phenomena such as the Fock-Darwin spectrum; Fermi energy; magneto-optical transitions; probability distribution; and the magneto-optical absorption in the quantum dots. It is observed that the role of an applied magnetic field on the absorption spectrum is comparable to that of a confining potential. Increasing (decreasing) the strength of the magnetic field or the confining potential is found to be analogous to shrinking (expanding) the size of the quantum dots: resulting into a blue (red) shift in the absorption spectrum. The Fermi energy diminishes with both increasing magnetic-field and dot-size; and exhibits saw-tooth-like oscillations at large values of field or dot-size. Unlike laterally confined quantum dots, both (upper and lower) magneto-optical transitions survive even in the extreme instances. However, the intra-Landau level

  3. Ultrafast optical control of individual quantum dot spin qubits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Greve, Kristiaan; Press, David; McMahon, Peter L; Yamamoto, Yoshihisa

    2013-09-01

    Single spins in semiconductor quantum dots form a promising platform for solid-state quantum information processing. The spin-up and spin-down states of a single electron or hole, trapped inside a quantum dot, can represent a single qubit with a reasonably long decoherence time. The spin qubit can be optically coupled to excited (charged exciton) states that are also trapped in the quantum dot, which provides a mechanism to quickly initialize, manipulate and measure the spin state with optical pulses, and to interface between a stationary matter qubit and a 'flying' photonic qubit for quantum communication and distributed quantum information processing. The interaction of the spin qubit with light may be enhanced by placing the quantum dot inside a monolithic microcavity. An entire system, consisting of a two-dimensional array of quantum dots and a planar microcavity, may plausibly be constructed by modern semiconductor nano-fabrication technology and could offer a path toward chip-sized scalable quantum repeaters and quantum computers. This article reviews the recent experimental developments in optical control of single quantum dot spins for quantum information processing. We highlight demonstrations of a complete set of all-optical single-qubit operations on a single quantum dot spin: initialization, an arbitrary SU(2) gate, and measurement. We review the decoherence and dephasing mechanisms due to hyperfine interaction with the nuclear-spin bath, and show how the single-qubit operations can be combined to perform spin echo sequences that extend the qubit decoherence from a few nanoseconds to several microseconds, more than 5 orders of magnitude longer than the single-qubit gate time. Two-qubit coupling is discussed, both within a single chip by means of exchange coupling of nearby spins and optically induced geometric phases, as well as over longer-distances. Long-distance spin-spin entanglement can be generated if each spin can emit a photon that is entangled

  4. L-Cysteine Capped CdSe Quantum Dots Synthesized by Photochemical Route.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Avinash; Kunwar, Amit; Rath, M C

    2018-05-01

    L-cysteine capped CdSe quantum dots were synthesized via photochemical route in aqueous solution under UV photo-irradiation. The as grown CdSe quantum dots exhibit broad fluorescence at room temperature. The CdSe quantum dots were found to be formed only through the reactions of the precursors, i.e., Cd(NH3)2+4 and SeSO2-3 with the photochemically generated 1-hydroxy-2-propyl radicals, (CH3)2COH radicals, which are formed through the process of H atom abstraction by the photoexcited acetone from 2-propanol. L-Cysteine was found to act as a suitable capping agent for the CdSe quantum dots and increases their biocompatability. Cytotoxicty effects of these quantum dots were evaluated in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) epithelial cells, indicated a significant lower level for the L-cysteine capped CdSe quantum dots as compare to the bare ones.

  5. Color tunable hybrid light-emitting diodes based on perovskite quantum dot/conjugated polymer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Germino, José C.; Yassitepe, Emre; Freitas, Jilian N.; Santiago, Glauco M.; Bonato, Luiz Gustavo; de Morais, Andréia; Atvars, Teresa D. Z.; Nogueira, Ana F.

    2017-08-01

    Inorganic organic metal halide perovskite materials have been investigated for several technological applications, such as photovoltaic cells, lasers, photodetectors and light emitting diodes (LEDs), either in the bulk form or as colloidal nanoparticles. Recently, all inorganic Cesium Lead Halide (CsPbX3, X=Cl,Br, I) perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) were reported with high photoluminescence quantum yield with narrow emission lines in the visible wavelengths. Here, green-emitting perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) prepared by a synthetic method based on a mixture of oleylamine and oleic acid as surfactants were applied in the electroluminescent layer of hybrid LEDs in combination with two different conjugated polymers: polyvinylcarbazole (PVK) or poly(9,9-di-n-octylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl) (PFO). The performance of the diodes and the emission color tuning upon dispersion of different concentrations of the PQDs in the polymer matrix is discussed. The presented approach aims at the combination of the optical properties of the PQDs and their interaction with wide bandgap conjugated polymers, associated with the solution processing ability of these materials.

  6. Autonomous quantum Maxwell's demon based on two exchange-coupled quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ptaszyński, Krzysztof

    2018-01-01

    I study an autonomous quantum Maxwell's demon based on two exchange-coupled quantum dots attached to the spin-polarized leads. The principle of operation of the demon is based on the coherent oscillations between the spin states of the system which act as a quantum iSWAP gate. Due to the operation of the iSWAP gate, one of the dots acts as a feedback controller which blocks the transport with the bias in the other dot, thus inducing the electron pumping against the bias; this leads to the locally negative entropy production. Operation of the demon is associated with the information transfer between the dots, which is studied quantitatively by mapping the analyzed setup onto the thermodynamically equivalent auxiliary system. The calculated entropy production in a single subsystem and information flow between the subsystems are shown to obey a local form of the second law of thermodynamics, similar to the one previously derived for classical bipartite systems.

  7. A Quantum Dot with Spin-Orbit Interaction--Analytical Solution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basu, B.; Roy, B.

    2009-01-01

    The practical applicability of a semiconductor quantum dot with spin-orbit interaction gives an impetus to study analytical solutions to one- and two-electron quantum dots with or without a magnetic field.

  8. TiN nanoparticles on CNT-graphene hybrid support as noble-metal-free counter electrode for quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Youn, Duck Hyun; Seol, Minsu; Kim, Jae Young; Jang, Ji-Wook; Choi, Youngwoo; Yong, Kijung; Lee, Jae Sung

    2013-02-01

    The development of an efficient noble-metal-free counter electrode is crucial for possible applications of quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). Herein, we present TiN nanoparticles on a carbon nanotube (CNT)-graphene hybrid support as a noble-metal-free counter electrode for QDSSCs employing a polysulfide electrolyte. The resulting TiN/CNT-graphene possesses an extremely high surface roughness, a good metal-support interaction, and less aggregation relative to unsupported TiN; it also has superior solar power conversion efficiency (4.13 %) when applying a metal mask, which is much higher than that of the state-of-the-art Au electrode (3.35 %). Based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements, the enhancement is ascribed to a synergistic effect between TiN nanoparticles and the CNT-graphene hybrid, the roles of which are to provide active sites for the reduction of polysulfide ions and electron pathways to TiN nanoparticles, respectively. The combination of graphene and CNTs leads to a favorable morphology that prevents stacking of graphene or bundling of CNTs, which maximizes the contact of the support with TiN nanoparticles and improves electron-transfer capability relative to either carbon material alone. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  9. ZnO nanoparticles sensitized by CuInZnxS2+x quantum dots as highly efficient solar light driven photocatalysts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florian Donat

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Alloyed CuInZnxS2+x (ZCIS quantum dots (QDs were successfully associated to ZnO nanoparticles by a thermal treatment at 400 °C for 15 min. The ZnO/ZCIS composite was characterized by TEM, SEM, XRD, XPS and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. ZCIS QDs, with an average diameter of ≈4.5 nm, were found to be homogeneously distributed at the surface of ZnO nanoparticles. ZCIS-sensitized ZnO nanoparticles exhibit a high photocatalytic activity under simulated solar light irradiation for the degradation of Orange II dye (>95% degradation after 180 min of irradiation at an intensity of 5 mW/cm2. The heterojunction built between the ZnO nanoparticle and ZCIS QDs not only extends the light adsorption range by the photocatalyst but also acts to decrease electron/hole recombination. Interestingly, the ZnO/ZCIS composite was found to produce increased amounts of H2O2 and singlet oxygen 1O2 compared to ZnO, suggesting that these reactive oxygen species play a key role in the photodegradation mechanism. The activity of the ZnO/ZCIS composite is retained at over 90% of its original value after ten successive photocatalytic runs, indicating its high stability and its potential for practical photocatalytic applications.

  10. Cross-sectional nanophotoluminescence studies of Stark effects in self-assembled quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Htoon, H.; Keto, J. W.; Baklenov, O.; Holmes, A. L. Jr.; Shih, C. K.

    2000-01-01

    By using a cross-sectional geometry, we show the capability to perform single-dot spectroscopy in self-assembled quantum dots using far-field optics. By using this method, we study the quantum-confined Stark effect in self-assembled quantum dots. For single-stack quantum dots (QDs), we find that the spectra are redshifted with an increase in electric field. For vertically coupled double-stack quantum dots, while most of the QDs are redshifted, some QDs show blueshifted spectra, which can be interpreted as an evidence of coupled QD molecules. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics

  11. Investigating uptake of water-dispersible CdSe/ZnS quantum dot nanoparticles by Arabidopsis thaliana plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Navarro, Divina A.; Bisson, Mary A.; Aga, Diana S.

    2012-01-01

    Graphical abstract: This study highlights the importance of quantum dot (QD) structural stability in preventing phytotoxicity. Overall, there is no evidence that Arabidopsis thaliana plants can internalize intact QDs within 1–7 days of exposure, with or without humic acids. Highlights: ► Potential uptake of water-dispersible CdSe/ZnS QDs by Arabidopsis was demonstrated. ► QDs were not internalized by Arabidopsis as intact particles. ► Plants exposed to Cd-, Se-, and QD + HA suspensions experienced oxidative stress. ► An effective LC–MS method proves detection of low levels of glutathione in plants. ► Uptake of Cd and/or Se leached from QDs is of major concern. - Abstract: Interest on the environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials has rapidly increased over the past years because it is expected that these materials will eventually be released into the environment. The present work investigates the potential root uptake of water-dispersible CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) by the model plant species, Arabidopsis thaliana. Experiments revealed that Arabidopsis exposed to QDs that are dispersed in Hoagland's solution for 1–7 days did not internalize intact QDs. Analysis of Cd and Se concentrations in roots and leaves by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicated that Cd and Se from QD-treated plants were not translocated into the leaves, and remained in the root system of Arabidopsis. Furthermore, fluorescence microscopy showed strong evidence that the QDs were generally on the outside surfaces of the roots, where the amount of QDs adsorbed is dependent on the stability of the QDs in suspension. Despite no evidence of nanoparticle internalization, the ratio of reduced glutathione levels (GSH) relative to the oxidized glutathione (GSSG) in plants decreased when plants were exposed to QD dispersions containing humic acids, suggesting that QDs caused oxidative stress on the plant at this condition.

  12. Statistical Characterization of Dispersed Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube Quantum Dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shimizu, M; Moriyama, S; Suzuki, M; Fuse, T; Homma, Y; Ishibashi, K

    2006-01-01

    Quantum dots have been fabricated in single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) simply by depositing metallic contacts on top of them. The fabricated quantum dots show different characteristics from sample to sample, which are even different in samples fabricated in the same chip. In this report, we study the statistical variations of the quantum dots fabricated with our method, and suggest their possible origin

  13. Optical properties of a tip-induced quantum dot

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kemerink, M.; Sauthoff, K.; Koenraad, P.M.; Gerritsen, J.W.; Kempen, van H.; Fomin, V.M.; Wolter, J.H.; Devreese, J.T.; Miura, N.; Ando, T.

    2001-01-01

    We have performed optical spectroscopy measurements on an STM-tip-induced quantum dot. The dominant confinement in the (hole) quantum dot is in the direction parallel to the tip axis. Electron confinement is achieved by a sub-surface AlGaAs barrier. Current dependent measurements indicate that

  14. Electronic properties of assemblies of zno quantum dots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Roest, Aarnoud Laurens

    2003-01-01

    Electron transport in an assembly of ZnO quantum dots has been studied using an electrochemically gated transistor. The electron mobility shows a step-wise increase as a function of the electron occupation per quantum dot. When the occupation number is below two, transport occurs by tunnelling

  15. Injection of a single electron from static to moving quantum dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertrand, Benoit; Hermelin, Sylvain; Mortemousque, Pierre-André; Takada, Shintaro; Yamamoto, Michihisa; Tarucha, Seigo; Ludwig, Arne; Wieck, Andreas D; Bäuerle, Christopher; Meunier, Tristan

    2016-05-27

    We study the injection mechanism of a single electron from a static quantum dot into a moving quantum dot. The moving quantum dots are created with surface acoustic waves (SAWs) in a long depleted channel. We demonstrate that the injection process is characterized by an activation law with a threshold that depends on the SAW amplitude and on the dot-channel potential gradient. By sufficiently increasing the SAW modulation amplitude, we can reach a regime where the transfer has unity probability and is potentially adiabatic. This study points to the relevant regime to use moving dots in quantum information protocols.

  16. Heparin conjugated quantum dots for in vitro imaging applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maguire, Ciaran Manus; Mahfoud, Omar Kazem; Rakovich, Tatsiana; Gerard, Valerie Anne; Prina-Mello, Adriele; Gun'ko, Yurii; Volkov, Yuri

    2014-11-01

    In this work heparin-gelatine multi-layered cadmium telluride quantum dots (QDgel/hep) were synthesised using a novel 'one-pot' method. The QDs produced were characterised using various spectroscopic and physiochemical techniques. Suitable QDs were then selected and compared to thioglycolic acid stabilised quantum dots (QDTGA) and gelatine coated quantum dots (QDgel) for utilisation in in vitro imaging experiments on live and fixed permeabilised THP-1, A549 and Caco-2 cell lines. Exposure of live THP-1 cells to QDgel/hep resulted in localisation of the QDs to the nucleus of the cells. QDgel/hep show affinity for the nuclear compartment of fixed permeabilised THP-1 and A549 cells but remain confined to cytoplasm of fixed permeabilised Caco-2 cells. It is postulated that heparin binding to the CD11b receptor facilitates the internalisation of the QDs into the nucleus of THP-1 cells. In addition, the heparin layer may reduce the unfavourable thrombogenic nature of quantum dots observed in vivo. In this study, heparin conjugated quantum dots were found to have superior imaging properties compared to its native counterparts. The authors postulate that heparin binding to the CD11b receptor facilitates QD internalization to the nucleus, and the heparin layer may reduce the in vivo thrombogenic properties of quantum dots. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Complex dynamics in planar two-electron quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schroeter, Sebastian Josef Arthur

    2013-06-25

    Quantum dots play an important role in a wide range of recent experimental and technological developments. In particular they are promising candidates for realisations of quantum bits and further applications in quantum information theory. The harmonically confined Hooke's atom model is experimentally verified and separates in centre-of-mass and relative coordinates. Findings that are contradictory to this separability call for an extension of the model, in particular changing the confinement potential. In order to study effects of an anharmonic confinement potential on spectral properties of planar two-electron quantum dots a sophisticated numerical approach is developed. Comparison between the Helium atom, Hooke's atom and an anharmonic potential model are undertaken in order to improve the description of quantum dots. Classical and quantum features of complexity and chaos are investigated and used to characterise the dynamics of the system to be mixed regular-chaotic. Influence of decoherence can be described by quantum fidelity, which measures the effect of a perturbation on the time evolution. The quantum fidelity of eigenstates of the system depends strongly on the properties of the perturbation. Several methods for solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation are implemented and a high level of accuracy for long time evolutions is achieved. The concept of offset entanglement, the entanglement of harmonic models in the noninteracting limit, is introduced. This concept explains different questions raised in the literature for harmonic quantum dot models, recently. It shows that only in the groundstate the electrons are not entangled in the fermionic sense. The applicability, validity, and origin of Hund's first rule in general quantum dot models is further addressed. In fact Hund's first rule is only applicable, and in this case also valid, for one pair of singlet and triplet states in Hooke's atom. For more realistic models of two

  18. Folded-light-path colloidal quantum dot solar cells.

    KAUST Repository

    Koleilat, Ghada I; Kramer, Illan J; Wong, Chris T O; Thon, Susanna M; Labelle, André J; Hoogland, Sjoerd; Sargent, Edward H

    2013-01-01

    Colloidal quantum dot photovoltaics combine low-cost solution processing with quantum size-effect tuning to match absorption to the solar spectrum. Rapid advances have led to certified solar power conversion efficiencies of over 7%. Nevertheless, these devices remain held back by a compromise in the choice of quantum dot film thickness, balancing on the one hand the need to maximize photon absorption, mandating a thicker film, and, on the other, the need for efficient carrier extraction, a consideration that limits film thickness. Here we report an architecture that breaks this compromise by folding the path of light propagating in the colloidal quantum dot solid. Using this method, we achieve a substantial increase in short-circuit current, ultimately leading to improved power conversion efficiency.

  19. Demonstration of the lack of cytotoxicity of unmodified and folic acid modified graphene oxide quantum dots, and their application to fluorescence lifetime imaging of HaCaT cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goreham, Renee V; Schroeder, Kathryn L; Holmes, Amy; Bradley, Siobhan J; Nann, Thomas

    2018-01-24

    The authors describe the synthesis of water-soluble and fluorescent graphene oxide quantum dots via acid exfoliation of graphite nanoparticles. The resultant graphene oxide quantum dots (GoQDs) were then modified with folic acid. Folic acid receptors are overexpressed in cancer cells and hence can bind to functionalized graphene oxide quantum dots. On excitation at 305 nm, the GoQDs display green fluorescence with a peak wavelength at ~520 nm. The modified GoQDs are non-toxic to macrophage cells even after prolonged exposure and high concentrations. Fluorescence lifetime imaging and multiphoton microscopy was used (in combination) to image HeCaT cells exposed to GoQDs, resulting in a superior method for bioimaging. Graphical abstract Schematic representation of graphene oxide quantum dots, folic acid modified graphene oxide quantum dots (red), and the use of fluorescence lifetime to discriminate against green auto-fluorescence of HeCaT cells.

  20. Light-addressable amperometric electrodes for enzyme sensors based on direct quantum dot-electrode contacts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riedel, M.; Göbel, G.; Parak, W. J.; Lisdat, F.

    2014-03-01

    Quantum dots allow the generation of charge carriers upon illumination. When these particles are attached to an electrode a photocurrent can be generated. This allows their use as a light-switchable layer on the surface. The QDs can not only exchange electronics with the electrode, but can also interact with donor or acceptor compounds in solution providing access to the construction of signal chains starting from an analytic molecule. The magnitude and the direction of the photocurrent depend on several factors such as electrode polarization, solution pH and composition. These defined dependencies have been evaluated with respect to the combination of QD-electrodes with enzyme reactions for sensorial purpose. CdSe/ZnS-QD-modified electrodes can be used to follow enzymatic reactions in solution based on the oxygen sensitivity. In order to develop a photoelectrochemical biosensor, e.g. glucose oxidase is immobilized on the CdSe/ZnS-electrode. One immobilization strategy applies the layer-by-layer-technique of GOD and a polyelectrolyte. Photocurrent measurements of such a sensor show a clear concentration dependent behavior. The principle of combing QD oxidase. The sensitivity of quantum dot electrodes can be influenced by additional nanoparticles, but also by multiple layers of the QDs. In another direction of research it can be influenced by additional nanoparticles, but also by multiple layers of the QDs. In another direction of research it can be demonstrated that direct electron transfer from excited quantum dots can be achieved with the redox protein cytochrome c. This allows the detection of the protein, but also interaction partners such as a enzymes or superoxide.

  1. Spin fine structure of optically excited quantum dot molecules

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheibner, M.; Doty, M. F.; Ponomarev, I. V.; Bracker, A. S.; Stinaff, E. A.; Korenev, V. L.; Reinecke, T. L.; Gammon, D.

    2007-06-01

    The interaction between spins in coupled quantum dots is revealed in distinct fine structure patterns in the measured optical spectra of InAs/GaAs double quantum dot molecules containing zero, one, or two excess holes. The fine structure is explained well in terms of a uniquely molecular interplay of spin-exchange interactions, Pauli exclusion, and orbital tunneling. This knowledge is critical for converting quantum dot molecule tunneling into a means of optically coupling not just orbitals but also spins.

  2. The quantum mechanical description of the dot-dot interaction in ionic colloids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morais, P.C.; Qu, Fanyao

    2007-01-01

    In this study the dot-dot interaction in ionic colloids is systematically investigated by self-consistently solving the coupled Schroedinger and Poisson equations in the frame of finite difference method (FDM). In a first approximation the interacting two-dot system (dimer) is described using the picture of two coupled quantum wells. It was found that the dot-dot interaction changes the colloid characteristic by changing the hopping coefficient (t) and consequently the nanodot surface charge density (σ). The hopping coefficient and the surface charge density were investigated as a function of the dot size and dot-dot distance

  3. High resolution STEM of quantum dots and quantum wires

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kadkhodazadeh, Shima

    2013-01-01

    This article reviews the application of high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and quantum wires (QWRs). Different imaging and analytical techniques in STEM are introduced and key examples of their application to QDs and QWRs...

  4. Computer-automated tuning of semiconductor double quantum dots into the single-electron regime

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baart, T. A.; Vandersypen, L. M. K. [QuTech, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5046, 2600 GA Delft (Netherlands); Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5046, 2600 GA Delft (Netherlands); Eendebak, P. T. [QuTech, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5046, 2600 GA Delft (Netherlands); Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), P.O. Box 155, 2600 AD Delft (Netherlands); Reichl, C.; Wegscheider, W. [Solid State Physics Laboratory, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich (Switzerland)

    2016-05-23

    We report the computer-automated tuning of gate-defined semiconductor double quantum dots in GaAs heterostructures. We benchmark the algorithm by creating three double quantum dots inside a linear array of four quantum dots. The algorithm sets the correct gate voltages for all the gates to tune the double quantum dots into the single-electron regime. The algorithm only requires (1) prior knowledge of the gate design and (2) the pinch-off value of the single gate T that is shared by all the quantum dots. This work significantly alleviates the user effort required to tune multiple quantum dot devices.

  5. Functional Carbon Quantum Dots: A Versatile Platform for Chemosensing and Biosensing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Hui; Qian, Zhaosheng

    2018-05-01

    Carbon quantum dot has emerged as a new promising fluorescent nanomaterial due to its excellent optical properties, outstanding biocompatibility and accessible fabrication methods, and has shown huge application perspective in a variety of areas, especially in chemosensing and biosensing applications. In this personal account, we give a brief overview of carbon quantum dots from its origin and preparation methods, present some advance on fluorescence origin of carbon quantum dots, and focus on development of chemosensors and biosensors based on functional carbon quantum dots. Comprehensive advances on functional carbon quantum dots as a versatile platform for sensing from our group are included and summarized as well as some typical examples from the other groups. The biosensing applications of functional carbon quantum dots are highlighted from selective assays of enzyme activity to fluorescent identification of cancer cells and bacteria. © 2018 The Chemical Society of Japan & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  6. Silicon based quantum dot hybrid qubits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Dohun

    2015-03-01

    The charge and spin degrees of freedom of an electron constitute natural bases for constructing quantum two level systems, or qubits, in semiconductor quantum dots. The quantum dot charge qubit offers a simple architecture and high-speed operation, but generally suffers from fast dephasing due to strong coupling of the environment to the electron's charge. On the other hand, quantum dot spin qubits have demonstrated long coherence times, but their manipulation is often slower than desired for important future applications. This talk will present experimental progress of a `hybrid' qubit, formed by three electrons in a Si/SiGe double quantum dot, which combines desirable characteristics (speed and coherence) in the past found separately in qubits based on either charge or spin degrees of freedom. Using resonant microwaves, we first discuss qubit operations near the `sweet spot' for charge qubit operation. Along with fast (>GHz) manipulation rates for any rotation axis on the Bloch sphere, we implement two independent tomographic characterization schemes in the charge qubit regime: traditional quantum process tomography (QPT) and gate set tomography (GST). We also present resonant qubit operations of the hybrid qubit performed on the same device, DC pulsed gate operations of which were recently demonstrated. We demonstrate three-axis control and the implementation of dynamic decoupling pulse sequences. Performing QPT on the hybrid qubit, we show that AC gating yields π rotation process fidelities higher than 93% for X-axis and 96% for Z-axis rotations, which demonstrates efficient quantum control of semiconductor qubits using resonant microwaves. We discuss a path forward for achieving fidelities better than the threshold for quantum error correction using surface codes. This work was supported in part by ARO (W911NF-12-0607), NSF (PHY-1104660), DOE (DE-FG02-03ER46028), and by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program at Sandia National Laboratories

  7. Optically Driven Spin Based Quantum Dots for Quantum Computing - Research Area 6 Physics 6.3.2

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-15

    SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: This program conducted experimental and theoretical research aimed at developing an optically driven quantum dot quantum ...computer, where, the qubit is the spin of the electron trapped in a self-assembled quantum dot in InAs. Optical manipulation using the trion state...reports. In this reporting period, we discovered the nuclear spin quieting first discovered in 2008 is present in vertically coupled quantum dots but

  8. Quantum Dots in the Therapy: Current Trends and Perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pohanka, Miroslav

    2017-01-01

    Quantum dots are an emerging nanomaterial with broad use in technical disciplines; however, their application in the field of biomedicine becomes also relevant and significant possibilities have appeared since the discovery in 1980s. The current review is focused on the therapeutic applications of quantum dots which become an emerging use of the particles. They are introduced as potent carriers of drugs and as a material well suited for the diagnosis of disparate pathologies like visualization of cancer cells or pathogenic microorganisms. Quantum dots toxicity and modifications for the toxicity reduction are discussed here as well. Survey of actual papers and patents in the field of quantum dots use in the biomedicine is provided. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  9. Quantum dot conjugates in a sub-micrometer fluidic channel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavis, Samuel M.; Edel, Joshua B.; Samiee, Kevan T.; Craighead, Harold G.

    2010-04-13

    A nanofluidic channel fabricated in fused silica with an approximately 500 nm square cross section was used to isolate, detect and identify individual quantum dot conjugates. The channel enables the rapid detection of every fluorescent entity in solution. A laser of selected wavelength was used to excite multiple species of quantum dots and organic molecules, and the emission spectra were resolved without significant signal rejection. Quantum dots were then conjugated with organic molecules and detected to demonstrate efficient multicolor detection. PCH was used to analyze coincident detection and to characterize the degree of binding. The use of a small fluidic channel to detect quantum dots as fluorescent labels was shown to be an efficient technique for multiplexed single molecule studies. Detection of single molecule binding events has a variety of applications including high throughput immunoassays.

  10. A fabrication guide for planar silicon quantum dot heterostructures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spruijtenburg, Paul C.; Amitonov, Sergey V.; van der Wiel, Wilfred G.; Zwanenburg, Floris A.

    2018-04-01

    We describe important considerations to create top-down fabricated planar quantum dots in silicon, often not discussed in detail in literature. The subtle interplay between intrinsic material properties, interfaces and fabrication processes plays a crucial role in the formation of electrostatically defined quantum dots. Processes such as oxidation, physical vapor deposition and atomic-layer deposition must be tailored in order to prevent unwanted side effects such as defects, disorder and dewetting. In two directly related manuscripts written in parallel we use techniques described in this work to create depletion-mode quantum dots in intrinsic silicon, and low-disorder silicon quantum dots defined with palladium gates. While we discuss three different planar gate structures, the general principles also apply to 0D and 1D systems, such as self-assembled islands and nanowires.

  11. Quantum dot conjugates in a sub-micrometer fluidic channel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavis, Samuel M [Ithaca, NY; Edel, Joshua B [Brookline, MA; Samiee, Kevan T [Ithaca, NY; Craighead, Harold G [Ithaca, NY

    2008-07-29

    A nanofluidic channel fabricated in fused silica with an approximately 500 nm square cross section was used to isolate, detect and identify individual quantum dot conjugates. The channel enables the rapid detection of every fluorescent entity in solution. A laser of selected wavelength was used to excite multiple species of quantum dots and organic molecules, and the emission spectra were resolved without significant signal rejection. Quantum dots were then conjugated with organic molecules and detected to demonstrate efficient multicolor detection. PCH was used to analyze coincident detection and to characterize the degree of binding. The use of a small fluidic channel to detect quantum dots as fluorescent labels was shown to be an efficient technique for multiplexed single molecule studies. Detection of single molecule binding events has a variety of applications including high throughput immunoassays.

  12. The distribution and degradation of radiolabeled superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and quantum dots in mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denise Bargheer

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available 51Cr-labeled, superparamagnetic, iron oxide nanoparticles (51Cr-SPIOs and 65Zn-labeled CdSe/CdS/ZnS-quantum dots (65Zn-Qdots were prepared using an easy, on demand, exchange-labeling technique and their particokinetic parameters were studied in mice after intravenous injection. The results indicate that the application of these heterologous isotopes can be used to successfully mark the nanoparticles during initial distribution and organ uptake, although the 65Zn-label appeared not to be fully stable. As the degradation of the nanoparticles takes place, the individual transport mechanisms for the different isotopes must be carefully taken into account. Although this variation in transport paths can bring new insights with regard to the respective trace element homeostasis, it can also limit the relevance of such trace material-based approaches in nanobioscience. By monitoring 51Cr-SPIOs after oral gavage, the gastrointestinal non-absorption of intact SPIOs in a hydrophilic or lipophilic surrounding was measured in mice with such high sensitivity for the first time. After intravenous injection, polymer-coated, 65Zn-Qdots were mainly taken up by the liver and spleen, which was different from that of ionic 65ZnCl2. Following the label for 4 weeks, an indication of substantial degradation of the nanoparticles and the release of the label into the Zn pool was observed. Confocal microscopy of rat liver cryosections (prepared 2 h after intravenous injection of polymer-coated Qdots revealed a colocalization with markers for Kupffer cells and liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC, but not with hepatocytes. In J774 macrophages, fluorescent Qdots were found colocalized with lysosomal markers. After 24 h, no signs of degradation could be detected. However, after 12 weeks, no fluorescent nanoparticles could be detected in the liver cryosections, which would confirm our 65Zn data showing a substantial degradation of the polymer-coated CdSe/CdS/ZnS-Qdots in

  13. Quantum Dots Coupled to a Superconductor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jellinggaard, Anders Robert

    are tuned electrostatically. This includes tuning the odd occupation of the dot through a quantum phase transition, where it forms a singlet with excitations in the superconductor. We detail the fabrication of these bottom gated devices, which additionally feature ancillary sensor dots connected...

  14. Whispering-gallery mode microcavity quantum-dot lasers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kryzhanovskaya, N V; Maximov, M V; Zhukov, A E

    2014-01-01

    This review examines axisymmetric-cavity quantum-dot microlasers whose emission spectrum is determined by whisperinggallery modes. We describe the possible designs, fabrication processes and basic characteristics of the microlasers and demonstrate the possibility of lasing at temperatures above 100 °C. The feasibility of creating multichannel optical sources based on a combination of a broadband quantum-dot laser and silicon microring modulators is discussed. (review)

  15. Polarized quantum dot emission in electrohydrodynamic jet printed photonic crystals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    See, Gloria G.; Xu, Lu; Nuzzo, Ralph G.; Sutanto, Erick; Alleyne, Andrew G.; Cunningham, Brian T.

    2015-01-01

    Tailored optical output, such as color purity and efficient optical intensity, are critical considerations for displays, particularly in mobile applications. To this end, we demonstrate a replica molded photonic crystal structure with embedded quantum dots. Electrohydrodynamic jet printing is used to control the position of the quantum dots within the device structure. This results in significantly less waste of the quantum dot material than application through drop-casting or spin coating. In addition, the targeted placement of the quantum dots minimizes any emission outside of the resonant enhancement field, which enables an 8× output enhancement and highly polarized emission from the photonic crystal structure

  16. Probing long-lived dark excitons in self-assembled quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, Jeppe; Julsgaard, Brian; Stobbe, Søren

    2010-01-01

    Long-lived dark exciton states are formed in self-assembled quantum dots due to the combination of the angular momentum of electrons and holes. The lifetime of dark excitons are determined by spin-flip processes that transfer dark excitons into radiative bright excitons. We employ time......-resolved spontaneous emission measurements in a modified local density of optical states to unambiguously record the spin-flip rate. Pronounced variations in the spin-flip rate with the quantum dot emission energy are observed demonstrating that the exciton storage time can be extended by controlling the quantum dot......, which illustrates the important role of interfaces for quantum dot based nanophotonic structures....

  17. Core–shell Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}–Au magnetic nanoparticles based nonenzymatic ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence immunosensor using quantum dots functionalized graphene sheet as labels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Weiyan; Zhang, Yan [Key Laboratory of Chemical Sensing and Analysis in Universities of Shandong, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022 (China); Ge, Shenguang [Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Preparation and Measurement of Building Materials, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022 (China); Song, Xianrang [Cancer Research Center, Shandong Tumor Hospital, Jinan 250012 (China); Huang, Jiadong [Key Laboratory of Chemical Sensing and Analysis in Universities of Shandong, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022 (China); Yan, Mei, E-mail: chm_yanm@ujn.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Chemical Sensing and Analysis in Universities of Shandong, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022 (China); Yu, Jinghua [Key Laboratory of Chemical Sensing and Analysis in Universities of Shandong, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022 (China)

    2013-04-03

    Graphical abstract: Core–shell Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}–Au magnetic nanoparticles and P-GS@QDs were prepared to immobilize Ab{sub 1} and Ab{sub 2} respectively and combined to fabricate a novel sandwich-type ECL immunosensor for detecting CA125 at low concentration. Highlights: ► ECL immunosensor for CA125 based on a microfluidic strategy with a homemade ECL cell was proposed. ► Core–shell Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}–Au magnetic nanoparticles were employed as the carriers of the primary antibodies. ► CdTe quantum dots functionalized graphene sheet were used for signal amplification. -- Abstract: In this paper, a novel, low-cost electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor using core–shell Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}–Au magnetic nanoparticles (AuMNPs) as the carriers of the primary antibody of carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) was designed. Graphene sheet (GS) with property of good conductivity and large surface area was a captivating candidate to amplify ECL signal. We successively synthesized functionalized GS by loading large amounts of quantum dots (QDs) onto the poly (diallyldimethyl-ammonium chloride) (PDDA) coated graphene sheet (P-GS@QDs) via self-assembly electrostatic reactions, which were used to label secondary antibodies. The ECL immunosensors coupled with a microfluidic strategy exhibited a wide detection range (0.005–50 U mL{sup −1}) and a low detection limit (1.2 mU mL{sup −1}) with the help of an external magnetic field to gather immunosensors. The method was evaluated with clinical serum sample, receiving good correlation with results from commercially available analytical procedure.

  18. Towards a feasible implementation of quantum neural networks using quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Altaisky, Mikhail V.; Zolnikova, Nadezhda N.; Kaputkina, Natalia E.; Krylov, Victor A.; Lozovik, Yurii E.; Dattani, Nikesh S.

    2016-01-01

    We propose an implementation of quantum neural networks using an array of quantum dots with dipole-dipole interactions. We demonstrate that this implementation is both feasible and versatile by studying it within the framework of GaAs based quantum dot qubits coupled to a reservoir of acoustic phonons. Using numerically exact Feynman integral calculations, we have found that the quantum coherence in our neural networks survive for over a hundred ps even at liquid nitrogen temperatures (77 K), which is three orders of magnitude higher than current implementations, which are based on SQUID-based systems operating at temperatures in the mK range.

  19. Few-layer black phosphorus nanoparticles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sofer, Zdenek; Bouša, Daniel; Luxa, Jan; Mazanek, Vlastimil; Pumera, Martin

    2016-01-28

    Herein, black phosphorus quantum dots and nanoparticles of a few layer thickness were prepared and characterized using STEM, AFM, dynamic light scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence. Impact electrochemistry of the induvidual black phosphorus nanoparticles allows their size determination. The centrifugation of colloidal black phosphorus nanoparticles allowed separation of quantum dots with sizes up to 15 nm. These black phosphorus nanoparticles exhibit a large band gap and are expected to find a wide range of applications from semiconductors to biomolecule tags. The use of black phosphorus nanoparticles for vapour sensing was successfully demonstrated.

  20. Intermediate-band photosensitive device with quantum dots having tunneling barrier embedded in organic matrix

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forrest, Stephen R.

    2008-08-19

    A plurality of quantum dots each have a shell. The quantum dots are embedded in an organic matrix. At least the quantum dots and the organic matrix are photoconductive semiconductors. The shell of each quantum dot is arranged as a tunneling barrier to require a charge carrier (an electron or a hole) at a base of the tunneling barrier in the organic matrix to perform quantum mechanical tunneling to reach the respective quantum dot. A first quantum state in each quantum dot is between a lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) and a highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of the organic matrix. Wave functions of the first quantum state of the plurality of quantum dots may overlap to form an intermediate band.

  1. Electronic transient processes and optical spectra in quantum dots for quantum computing

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Král, Karel; Zdeněk, Petr; Khás, Zdeněk

    2004-01-01

    Roč. 3, č. 1 (2004), s. 17-25 ISSN 1536-125X R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA1010113 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1010914 Keywords : depopulation * electronic relaxation * optical spectra * quantum dots * self-assembled quantum dots * upconversion Subject RIV: BE - Theoretical Physics Impact factor: 3.176, year: 2004

  2. Quantum Optics with Near-Lifetime-Limited Quantum-Dot Transitions in a Nanophotonic Waveguide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thyrrestrup, Henri; Kiršanskė, Gabija; Le Jeannic, Hanna; Pregnolato, Tommaso; Zhai, Liang; Raahauge, Laust; Midolo, Leonardo; Rotenberg, Nir; Javadi, Alisa; Schott, Rüdiger; Wieck, Andreas D; Ludwig, Arne; Löbl, Matthias C; Söllner, Immo; Warburton, Richard J; Lodahl, Peter

    2018-03-14

    Establishing a highly efficient photon-emitter interface where the intrinsic linewidth broadening is limited solely by spontaneous emission is a key step in quantum optics. It opens a pathway to coherent light-matter interaction for, e.g., the generation of highly indistinguishable photons, few-photon optical nonlinearities, and photon-emitter quantum gates. However, residual broadening mechanisms are ubiquitous and need to be combated. For solid-state emitters charge and nuclear spin noise are of importance, and the influence of photonic nanostructures on the broadening has not been clarified. We present near-lifetime-limited linewidths for quantum dots embedded in nanophotonic waveguides through a resonant transmission experiment. It is found that the scattering of single photons from the quantum dot can be obtained with an extinction of 66 ± 4%, which is limited by the coupling of the quantum dot to the nanostructure rather than the linewidth broadening. This is obtained by embedding the quantum dot in an electrically contacted nanophotonic membrane. A clear pathway to obtaining even larger single-photon extinction is laid out; i.e., the approach enables a fully deterministic and coherent photon-emitter interface in the solid state that is operated at optical frequencies.

  3. Combined atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence imaging to select single InAs/GaAs quantum dots for quantum photonic devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sapienza, Luca; Liu, Jin; Song, Jin Dong; Fält, Stefan; Wegscheider, Werner; Badolato, Antonio; Srinivasan, Kartik

    2017-07-24

    We report on a combined photoluminescence imaging and atomic force microscopy study of single, isolated self-assembled InAs quantum dots. The motivation of this work is to determine an approach that allows to assess single quantum dots as candidates for quantum nanophotonic devices. By combining optical and scanning probe characterization techniques, we find that single quantum dots often appear in the vicinity of comparatively large topographic features. Despite this, the quantum dots generally do not exhibit significant differences in their non-resonantly pumped emission spectra in comparison to quantum dots appearing in defect-free regions, and this behavior is observed across multiple wafers produced in different growth chambers. Such large surface features are nevertheless a detriment to applications in which single quantum dots are embedded within nanofabricated photonic devices: they are likely to cause large spectral shifts in the wavelength of cavity modes designed to resonantly enhance the quantum dot emission, thereby resulting in a nominally perfectly-fabricated single quantum dot device failing to behave in accordance with design. We anticipate that the approach of screening quantum dots not only based on their optical properties, but also their surrounding surface topographies, will be necessary to improve the yield of single quantum dot nanophotonic devices.

  4. Quantum Dots Microstructured Optical Fiber for X-Ray Detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeHaven, Stan; Williams, Phillip; Burke, Eric

    2015-01-01

    Microstructured optical fibers containing quantum dots scintillation material comprised of zinc sulfide nanocrystals doped with magnesium sulfide are presented. These quantum dots are applied inside the microstructured optical fibers using capillary action. The x-ray photon counts of these fibers are compared to the output of a collimated CdTe solid state detector over an energy range from 10 to 40 keV. The results of the fiber light output and associated effects of an acrylate coating and the quantum dot application technique are discussed.

  5. Strain-induced formation of fourfold symmetric SiGe quantum dot molecules.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zinovyev, V A; Dvurechenskii, A V; Kuchinskaya, P A; Armbrister, V A

    2013-12-27

    The strain field distribution at the surface of a multilayer structure with disklike SiGe nanomounds formed by heteroepitaxy is exploited to arrange the symmetric quantum dot molecules typically consisting of four elongated quantum dots ordered along the [010] and [100] directions. The morphological transition from fourfold quantum dot molecules to continuous fortresslike quantum rings with an increasing amount of deposited Ge is revealed. We examine key mechanisms underlying the formation of lateral quantum dot molecules by using scanning tunneling microscopy and numerical calculations of the strain energy distribution on the top of disklike SiGe nanomounds. Experimental data are well described by a simple thermodynamic model based on the accurate evaluation of the strain dependent part of the surface chemical potential. The spatial arrangement of quantum dots inside molecules is attributed to the effect of elastic property anisotropy.

  6. Characteristics of photocurrent generation in the near-ultraviolet region in Si quantum-dot sensitized solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Uchida, Giichiro, E-mail: uchida@ed.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Graduate School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Sato, Muneharu; Seo, Hyunwoong [Graduate School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Kamataki, Kunihiro [Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Itagaki, Naho [Graduate School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo 102-0075 (Japan); Koga, Kazunori; Shiratani, Masaharu [Graduate School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan)

    2013-10-01

    We have studied photocurrent generation in Si quantum-dot (QD) sensitized solar cells, where QD thin films composed of Si nanoparticles were deposited using the double multi-hollow discharge plasma chemical vapor deposition process in an SiH{sub 4}/H{sub 2} and CH{sub 4} or N{sub 2} gas mixture. The short-circuit current density of the Si QD sensitized solar cells increases by a factor of 2.5 by using Si nanoparticles prepared by irradiation of CH{sub 4} or N{sub 2} plasma onto the Si nanoparticle surface. We have measured incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) in the near-ultraviolet range using quartz-glass front panels of the QD sensitized solar cells. With decreasing the wavelength of irradiation light, IPCE gradually increases upon light irradiation in a wavelength range less than about 600 nm, and then steeply increases below 300 nm, corresponding to 2.2 times the optical band-gap energy of Si QD film. - Highlights: • We have developed on Si quantum-dot sensitized solar cells using Si particles. • Current of solar cells increases by surface-termination of Si particles. • Incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency increases below 300 nm.

  7. Periodic Scarred States in Open Quantum Dots as Evidence of Quantum Darwinism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burke, A. M.; Akis, R.; Day, T. E.; Speyer, Gil; Ferry, D. K.; Bennett, B. R.

    2010-04-01

    Scanning gate microscopy (SGM) is used to image scar structures in an open quantum dot, which is created in an InAs quantum well by electron-beam lithography and wet etching. The scanned images demonstrate periodicities in magnetic field that correlate to those found in the conductance fluctuations. Simulations have shown that these magnetic transform images bear a strong resemblance to actual scars found in the dot that replicate through the modes in direct agreement with quantum Darwinism.

  8. Two path transport measurements on a triple quantum dot

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rogge, Maximilian C.; Haug, Rolf J. [Institut fuer Festkoerperphysik, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Appelstr. 2, 30167 Hannover (Germany)

    2008-07-01

    We present a novel triple quantum dot device made with local anodic oxidation on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. The geometry provides two path transport via a three lead setup with each lead connected to one of the three quantum dots. In addition charge detection is implemented via a quantum point contact. One lead is used as a common source contact, the other two are used as two separate drain contacts with independent current measurement. Thus two paths are formed with two dots in each path. Along both paths serial transport is observed at the triple points of the two corresponding dots. With four side gates a wide tunability is given. Thus the system can be tuned in and out of triple dot resonances. When all three dots come into resonance, quadruple points are formed with simultaneous transport along both paths. The data are analysed in combined two colour plots and compared to the charge detection showing sets of three different lines, one for each dot. This way the two path setup allows to investigate the transition from double dot physics to triple dot physics.

  9. A Novel DNA Nanosensor Based on CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots and Synthesized Fe3O4 Magnetic Nanoparticles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roozbeh Hushiarian

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Although nanoparticle-enhanced biosensors have been extensively researched, few studies have systematically characterized the roles of nanoparticles in enhancing biosensor functionality. This paper describes a successful new method in which DNA binds directly to iron oxide nanoparticles for use in an optical biosensor. A wide variety of nanoparticles with different properties have found broad application in biosensors because their small physical size presents unique chemical, physical, and electronic properties that are different from those of bulk materials. Of all nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles are proving to be a versatile tool, an excellent case in point being in DNA bioassays, where magnetic nanoparticles are often used for optimization of the hybridization and separation of target DNA. A critical step in the successful construction of a DNA biosensor is the efficient attachment of biomolecules to the surface of magnetic nanoparticles. To date, most methods of synthesizing these nanoparticles have led to the formation of hydrophobic particles that require additional surface modifications. As a result, the surface to volume ratio decreases and nonspecific bindings may occur so that the sensitivity and efficiency of the device deteriorates. A new method of large-scale synthesis of iron oxide (Fe3O4 nanoparticles which results in the magnetite particles being in aqueous phase, was employed in this study. Small modifications were applied to design an optical DNA nanosensor based on sandwich hybridization. Characterization of the synthesized particles was carried out using a variety of techniques and CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots were used as the reporter markers in a spectrofluorophotometer. We showed conclusively that DNA binds to the surface of ironoxide nanoparticles without further surface modifications and that these magnetic nanoparticles can be efficiently utilized as biomolecule carriers in biosensing devices.

  10. The transfer matrix approach to circular graphene quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen, H Chau; Nguyen, Nhung T T; Nguyen, V Lien

    2016-01-01

    We adapt the transfer matrix (T -matrix) method originally designed for one-dimensional quantum mechanical problems to solve the circularly symmetric two-dimensional problem of graphene quantum dots. Similar to one-dimensional problems, we show that the generalized T -matrix contains rich information about the physical properties of these quantum dots. In particular, it is shown that the spectral equations for bound states as well as quasi-bound states of a circular graphene quantum dot and related quantities such as the local density of states and the scattering coefficients are all expressed exactly in terms of the T -matrix for the radial confinement potential. As an example, we use the developed formalism to analyse physical aspects of a graphene quantum dot induced by a trapezoidal radial potential. Among the obtained results, it is in particular suggested that the thermal fluctuations and electrostatic disorders may appear as an obstacle to controlling the valley polarization of Dirac electrons. (paper)

  11. Surface treatment of nanocrystal quantum dots after film deposition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sykora, Milan; Koposov, Alexey; Fuke, Nobuhiro

    2015-02-03

    Provided are methods of surface treatment of nanocrystal quantum dots after film deposition so as to exchange the native ligands of the quantum dots for exchange ligands that result in improvement in charge extraction from the nanocrystals.

  12. Quantum computation with nuclear spins in quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Christ, H.

    2008-01-01

    The role of nuclear spins for quantum information processing in quantum dots is theoretically investigated in this thesis. Building on the established fact that the most strongly coupled environment for the potential electron spin quantum bit are the surrounding lattice nuclear spins interacting via the hyperfine interaction, we turn this vice into a virtue by designing schemes for harnessing this strong coupling. In this perspective, the ensemble of nuclear spins can be considered an asset, suitable for an active role in quantum information processing due to its intrinsic long coherence times. We present experimentally feasible protocols for the polarization, i.e. initialization, of the nuclear spins and a quantitative solution to our derived master equation. The polarization limiting destructive interference effects, caused by the collective nature of the nuclear coupling to the electron spin, are studied in detail. Efficient ways of mitigating these constraints are presented, demonstrating that highly polarized nuclear ensembles in quantum dots are feasible. At high, but not perfect, polarization of the nuclei the evolution of an electron spin in contact with the spin bath can be efficiently studied by means of a truncation of the Hilbert space. It is shown that the electron spin can function as a mediator of universal quantum gates for collective nuclear spin qubits, yielding a promising architecture for quantum information processing. Furthermore, we show that at high polarization the hyperfine interaction of electron and nuclear spins resembles the celebrated Jaynes-Cummings model of quantum optics. This result opens the door for transfer of knowledge from the mature field of quantum computation with atoms and photons. Additionally, tailored specifically for the quantum dot environment, we propose a novel scheme for the generation of highly squeezed collective nuclear states. Finally we demonstrate that even an unprepared completely mixed nuclear spin

  13. Quantum computation with nuclear spins in quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Christ, H.

    2008-01-24

    The role of nuclear spins for quantum information processing in quantum dots is theoretically investigated in this thesis. Building on the established fact that the most strongly coupled environment for the potential electron spin quantum bit are the surrounding lattice nuclear spins interacting via the hyperfine interaction, we turn this vice into a virtue by designing schemes for harnessing this strong coupling. In this perspective, the ensemble of nuclear spins can be considered an asset, suitable for an active role in quantum information processing due to its intrinsic long coherence times. We present experimentally feasible protocols for the polarization, i.e. initialization, of the nuclear spins and a quantitative solution to our derived master equation. The polarization limiting destructive interference effects, caused by the collective nature of the nuclear coupling to the electron spin, are studied in detail. Efficient ways of mitigating these constraints are presented, demonstrating that highly polarized nuclear ensembles in quantum dots are feasible. At high, but not perfect, polarization of the nuclei the evolution of an electron spin in contact with the spin bath can be efficiently studied by means of a truncation of the Hilbert space. It is shown that the electron spin can function as a mediator of universal quantum gates for collective nuclear spin qubits, yielding a promising architecture for quantum information processing. Furthermore, we show that at high polarization the hyperfine interaction of electron and nuclear spins resembles the celebrated Jaynes-Cummings model of quantum optics. This result opens the door for transfer of knowledge from the mature field of quantum computation with atoms and photons. Additionally, tailored specifically for the quantum dot environment, we propose a novel scheme for the generation of highly squeezed collective nuclear states. Finally we demonstrate that even an unprepared completely mixed nuclear spin

  14. Modeling of phonon- and Coulomb-mediated capture processes in quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Magnúsdóttir, Ingibjörg

    2003-01-01

    This thesis describes modeling of carrier relaxation processes in self-assembled quantum-dot-structures, with particular emphasis on carrier capture processes in quantum dots. Relaxation by emission of lontitudinal optical (LO) phonons is very efficient in bulk semiconductors and nanostructures...... of higher dimensionality. Here, we investigate carrier capture processes into quantum dots, mediated by emission of one and two LO phonons. In these investigations is is assumed that the dot is empty initially. In the Case of single-phonon capture we also investigate the influence of the presence...... of a charge in the quantum-dot state to which the capture takes place. In general, capture rates are of the same order as capture rates into an empty dot state, but in some cases the dot-size interval for which the capture process is energetically allowed, is considerably reduced.The above calculations...

  15. Wetting layers effect on InAs/GaAs quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun Chao [State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, P.O. Box 49(BUPT), Xitucheng Road No. 10, Beijing 100876 (China); Lu Pengfei, E-mail: photon.bupt@gmail.com [State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, P.O. Box 49(BUPT), Xitucheng Road No. 10, Beijing 100876 (China); Yu Zhongyuan; Cao Huawei; Zhang Lidong [State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, P.O. Box 49(BUPT), Xitucheng Road No. 10, Beijing 100876 (China)

    2012-11-15

    FEM combining with the K{center_dot}P theory is adopted to systematically investigate the effect of wetting layers on the strain-stress profiles and electronic structures of self-organized InAs quantum dot. Four different kinds of quantum dots are introduced at the same height and aspect ratio. We found that 0.5 nm wetting layer is an appropriate thickness for InAs/GaAs quantum dots. Strain shift down about 3%{approx}4.5% for the cases with WL (0.5 nm) and without WL in four shapes of quantum dots. For band edge energy, wetting layers expand the potential energy gap width. When WL thickness is more than 0.8 nm, the band edge energy profiles cannot vary regularly. The electron energy is affected while for heavy hole this impact on the energy is limited. Wetting layers for the influence of the electronic structure is obviously than the heavy hole. Consequently, the electron probability density function spread from buffer to wetting layer while the center of hole's function moves from QDs internal to wetting layer when introduce WLs. When WLs thickness is larger than 0.8 nm, the electronic structures of quantum dots have changed obviously. This will affect the instrument's performance which relies on the quantum dots' optical properties.

  16. Colloidal-quantum-dot photovoltaics using atomic-ligand passivation

    KAUST Repository

    Tang, Jiang

    2011-09-18

    Colloidal-quantum-dot (CQD) optoelectronics offer a compelling combination of solution processing and spectral tunability through quantum size effects. So far, CQD solar cells have relied on the use of organic ligands to passivate the surface of the semiconductor nanoparticles. Although inorganic metal chalcogenide ligands have led to record electronic transport parameters in CQD films, no photovoltaic device has been reported based on such compounds. Here we establish an atomic ligand strategy that makes use of monovalent halide anions to enhance electronic transport and successfully passivate surface defects in PbS CQD films. Both time-resolved infrared spectroscopy and transient device characterization indicate that the scheme leads to a shallower trap state distribution than the best organic ligands. Solar cells fabricated following this strategy show up to 6% solar AM1.5G power-conversion efficiency. The CQD films are deposited at room temperature and under ambient atmosphere, rendering the process amenable to low-cost, roll-by-roll fabrication. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

  17. Onion like growth and inverted many-particle energies in quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bimberg, D.

    2008-01-01

    Use of surfactants like antimony in MOCVD growth enables novel growth regimes for quantum dots (QDs). The quantum dot ensemble luminescence no longer appears as a single inhomogeneously broadened peak but shows a multi-modal structure. Quantum dot subensembles are forming which differ in height by exactly one monolayer. For the first time the systematic dependence of excitonic properties on quantum dot size and shape can be investigated in detail. Both biexcitonic binding energy and excitonic fine-structure splitting vary from large positive through zero to negative values. Correlation and piezoelectric effects explain the observations

  18. Assembly of CdS Quantum Dots onto Hierarchical TiO2 Structure for Quantum Dots Sensitized Solar Cell Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Syed Mansoor Ali

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Quantum dot (QD sensitized solar cells based on Hierarchical TiO2 structure (HTS consisting of spherical nano-urchins on transparent conductive fluorine doped tin oxide glass substrate is fabricated. The hierarchical TiO2 structure consisting of spherical nano-urchins on transparent conductive fluorine doped tin oxide glass substrate synthesized by hydrothermal route. The CdS quantum dots were grown by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction deposition method. The quantum dot sensitized solar cell based on the hierarchical TiO2 structure shows a current density JSC = 1.44 mA, VOC = 0.46 V, FF = 0.42 and η = 0.27%. The QD provide a high surface area and nano-urchins offer a highway for fast charge collection and multiple scattering centers within the photoelectrode.

  19. Synthesis and applications of crack-free SiO2 monolith containing CdSe/ZnS quantum dots as passive lighting sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yi, Dong Kee

    2008-09-01

    A reverse microemulsion technique has been used to synthesize quantum dot nanocomposites within a SiO2 surface coating. With this approach, the unique optical properties of the CdSe/ZnS quantum dots were preserved. CdSe/ZnS/SiO2 nanoparticles were homogeneously distributed in a tetramethyl orthosilicate ethanol solution and gelation process was initiated within a 10 min, and was left over night at room temperature and dried fully to achieve a solid SiO, monolith. The resulting monolith was transparent and fluorescent under ultraviolet (UV) lamp. Moreover the monolith produced was crack-free. Further studies on the photo stability of the monolith were performed using a high power UV LED device. Remarkably, quantum dots in the SiO, monolith showed better photo stability compared with those dispersed in a polymer matrix.

  20. Synthetic Control of Exciton Behavior in Colloidal Quantum Dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pu, Chaodan; Qin, Haiyan; Gao, Yuan; Zhou, Jianhai; Wang, Peng; Peng, Xiaogang

    2017-03-08

    Colloidal quantum dots are promising optical and optoelectronic materials for various applications, whose performance is dominated by their excited-state properties. This article illustrates synthetic control of their excited states. Description of the excited states of quantum-dot emitters can be centered around exciton. We shall discuss that, different from conventional molecular emitters, ground-state structures of quantum dots are not necessarily correlated with their excited states. Synthetic control of exciton behavior heavily relies on convenient and affordable monitoring tools. For synthetic development of ideal optical and optoelectronic emitters, the key process is decay of band-edge excitons, which renders transient photoluminescence as important monitoring tool. On the basis of extensive synthetic developments in the past 20-30 years, synthetic control of exciton behavior implies surface engineering of quantum dots, including surface cation/anion stoichiometry, organic ligands, inorganic epitaxial shells, etc. For phosphors based on quantum dots doped with transition metal ions, concentration and location of the dopant ions within a nanocrystal lattice are found to be as important as control of the surface states in order to obtain bright dopant emission with monoexponential yet tunable photoluminescence decay dynamics.

  1. Photoluminescence of patterned CdSe quantum dot for anti-counterfeiting label on paper

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Isnaeni,; Yulianto, Nursidik; Suliyanti, Maria Margaretha

    2016-01-01

    We successfully developed a method utilizing colloidal CdSe nanocrystalline quantum dot for anti-counterfeiting label on a piece of glossy paper. We deposited numbers and lines patterns of toluene soluble CdSe quantum dot using rubber stamper on a glossy paper. The width of line pattern was about 1-2 mm with 1-2 mm separation between lines. It required less than one minute for deposited CdSe quantum dot on glossy paper to dry and become invisible by naked eyes. However, patterned quantum dot become visible using long-pass filter glasses upon excitation of UV lamp or blue laser. We characterized photoluminescence of line patterns of quantum dot, and we found that emission boundaries of line patterns were clearly observed. The error of line size and shape were mainly due to defect of the original stamper. The emission peak wavelength of CdSe quantum dot was 629 nm. The emission spectrum of deposited quantum dot has full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 30-40 nm. The spectra similarity between deposited quantum dot and the original quantum dot in solution proved that our stamping method can be simply applied on glossy paper without changing basic optical property of the quantum dot. Further development of this technique is potential for anti-counterfeiting label on very important documents or objects.

  2. Photoluminescence of patterned CdSe quantum dot for anti-counterfeiting label on paper

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Isnaeni,, E-mail: isnaeni@lipi.go.id; Yulianto, Nursidik; Suliyanti, Maria Margaretha [Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Building 442, Kawasan Puspiptek, South Tangerang,Banten 15314 Indonesia (Indonesia)

    2016-03-11

    We successfully developed a method utilizing colloidal CdSe nanocrystalline quantum dot for anti-counterfeiting label on a piece of glossy paper. We deposited numbers and lines patterns of toluene soluble CdSe quantum dot using rubber stamper on a glossy paper. The width of line pattern was about 1-2 mm with 1-2 mm separation between lines. It required less than one minute for deposited CdSe quantum dot on glossy paper to dry and become invisible by naked eyes. However, patterned quantum dot become visible using long-pass filter glasses upon excitation of UV lamp or blue laser. We characterized photoluminescence of line patterns of quantum dot, and we found that emission boundaries of line patterns were clearly observed. The error of line size and shape were mainly due to defect of the original stamper. The emission peak wavelength of CdSe quantum dot was 629 nm. The emission spectrum of deposited quantum dot has full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 30-40 nm. The spectra similarity between deposited quantum dot and the original quantum dot in solution proved that our stamping method can be simply applied on glossy paper without changing basic optical property of the quantum dot. Further development of this technique is potential for anti-counterfeiting label on very important documents or objects.

  3. Coulomb Blockade of Tunnel-Coupled Quantum Dots

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Golden, John

    1997-01-01

    .... Though classical charging models can explain the Coulomb blockade of an isolated dot, they must be modified to explain the Coulomb blockade of dots coupled through the quantum mechanical tunneling of electrons...

  4. Growth and temperature dependent photoluminescence of InGaAs quantum dot chains

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Haeyeon; Kim, Dong-Jun; Colton, John S.; Park, Tyler; Meyer, David; Jones, Aaron M.; Thalman, Scott; Smith, Dallas; Clark, Ken; Brown, Steve

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • We examine the optical properties of novel quantum dot chains. • Study shows that platelets evolve into quantum dots during heating of the InGaAs platelets encapsulated with GaAs. • Single stack of quantum dots emits light at room temperature. • Quantum dots are of high quality, confirmed by cross-section TEM images and photoluminescence. • Light emission at room temperature weakens beyond the detection limit when the quantum dots form above the critical annealing temperature. - Abstract: We report a study of growth and photoluminescence from a single stack of MBE-grown In 0.4 Ga 0.6 As quantum dot chains. The InGaAs epilayers were grown at a low temperature so that the resulting surfaces remain flat with platelets even though their thicknesses exceed the critical thickness of the conventional Stranski–Krastanov growth mode. The flat InGaAs layers were then annealed at elevated temperatures to induce the formation of quantum dot chains. A reflection high energy electron diffraction study suggests that, when the annealing temperature is at or below 480 °C, the surface of growth front remains flat during the periods of annealing and growth of a 10 nm thick GaAs capping layer. Surprisingly, transmission electron microscopy images do indicate the formation of quantum dot chains, however, so the dot-chains in those samples may form from precursory platelets during the period of temperature ramping and subsequent capping with GaAs due to intermixing of group III elements. The optical emission from the quantum dot layer demonstrates that there is a critical annealing temperature of 480–500 °C above which the properties of the low temperature growth approach are lost, as the optical properties begin to resemble those of quantum dots produced by the conventional Stranski–Krastanov technique

  5. Gain dynamics of quantum dot devices for dual-state operation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kaptan, Y., E-mail: yuecel.kaptan@physik.tu-berlin.de; Herzog, B.; Kolarczik, M.; Owschimikow, N.; Woggon, U. [Institut für Optik und Atomare Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin (Germany); Schmeckebier, H.; Arsenijević, D.; Bimberg, D. [Institut für Festkörperphysik, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin (Germany); Mikhelashvili, V.; Eisenstein, G. [Technion Institute of Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Haifa (Israel)

    2014-06-30

    Ground state gain dynamics of In(Ga)As-quantum dot excited state lasers are investigated via single-color ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy below and above lasing threshold. Two-color pump-probe experiments are used to localize lasing and non-lasing quantum dots within the inhomogeneously broadened ground state. Single-color results yield similar gain recovery rates of the ground state for lasing and non-lasing quantum dots decreasing from 6 ps to 2 ps with increasing injection current. We find that ground state gain dynamics are influenced solely by the injection current and unaffected by laser operation of the excited state. This independence is promising for dual-state operation schemes in quantum dot based optoelectronic devices.

  6. Internalization of targeted quantum dots by brain capillary endothelial cells in vivo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paris-Robidas, Sarah; Brouard, Danny; Emond, Vincent; Parent, Martin; Calon, Frédéric

    2016-04-01

    Receptors located on brain capillary endothelial cells forming the blood-brain barrier are the target of most brain drug delivery approaches. Yet, direct subcellular evidence of vectorized transport of nanoformulations into the brain is lacking. To resolve this question, quantum dots were conjugated to monoclonal antibodies (Ri7) targeting the murine transferrin receptor. Specific transferrin receptor-mediated endocytosis of Ri7-quantum dots was first confirmed in N2A and bEnd5 cells. After intravenous injection in mice, Ri7-quantum dots exhibited a fourfold higher volume of distribution in brain tissues, compared to controls. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that Ri7-quantum dots were sequestered throughout the cerebral vasculature 30 min, 1 h, and 4 h post injection, with a decline of signal intensity after 24 h. Transmission electron microscopic studies confirmed that Ri7-quantum dots were massively internalized by brain capillary endothelial cells, averaging 37 ± 4 Ri7-quantum dots/cell 1 h after injection. Most quantum dots within brain capillary endothelial cells were observed in small vesicles (58%), with a smaller proportion detected in tubular structures or in multivesicular bodies. Parenchymal penetration of Ri7-quantum dots was extremely low and comparable to control IgG. Our results show that systemically administered Ri7-quantum dots complexes undergo extensive endocytosis by brain capillary endothelial cells and open the door for novel therapeutic approaches based on brain endothelial cell drug delivery. © The Author(s) 2015.

  7. Quantum dot doped solid polymer electrolyte for device application

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singh, Pramod K.; Kim, Kang Wook; Rhee, Hee-Woo [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University, Mapo-Gu, Seoul 121-742 (Korea)

    2009-06-15

    ZnS capped CdSe quantum dots embedded in PEO:KI:I{sub 2} polymer electrolyte matrix have been synthesized and characterized for dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) application. The complex impedance spectroscopy shows enhance in ionic conductivity ({sigma}) due to charges provide by quantum dots (QD) while AFM affirm the uniform distribution of QD into polymer electrolyte matrix. Cyclic voltammetry revealed the possible interaction between polymer electrolyte, QD and iodide/iodine. The photovoltaic performances of the DSSC containing quantum dots doped polymer electrolyte was also found to improve. (author)

  8. Study of a Quantum Dot in an Excited State

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slamet, Marlina; Sahni, Viraht

    We have studied the first excited singlet state of a quantum dot via quantal density functional theory (QDFT). The quantum dot is represented by a 2D Hooke's atom in an external magnetostatic field. The QDFT mapping is from an excited singlet state of this interacting system to one of noninteracting fermions in a singlet ground state. The results of the study will be compared to (a) the corresponding mapping from a ground state of the quantum dot and (b) to the similar mapping from an excited singlet state of the 3D Hooke's atom.

  9. Group-III vacancy induced InxGa1-xAs quantum dot interdiffusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Djie, H. S.; Wang, D.-N.; Ooi, B. S.; Hwang, J. C. M.; Gunawan, O.

    2006-01-01

    The impact of group-III vacancy diffusion, generated during dielectric cap induced intermixing, on the energy state transition and the inhomogeneity reduction in the InGaAs/GaAs quantum-dot structure is investigated. We use a three-dimensional quantum-dot diffusion model and photoluminescence data to determine the thermal and the interdiffusion properties of the quantum dot. The band gap energy variation related to the dot uniformity is found to be dominantly affected by the height fluctuation. A group-III vacancies migration energy H m for InGaAs quantum dots of 1.7 eV was deduced. This result is similar to the value obtained from the bulk and GaAs/AlGaAs quantum-well materials confirming the role of SiO 2 capping enhanced group-III vacancy induced interdiffusion in the InGaAs quantum dots

  10. Magneto-conductance fingerprints of purely quantum states in the open quantum dot limit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mendoza, Michel; Ujevic, Sebastian

    2012-06-01

    We present quantum magneto-conductance simulations, at the quantum low energy condition, to study the open quantum dot limit. The longitudinal conductance G(E,B) of spinless and non-interacting electrons is mapped as a function of the magnetic field B and the energy E of the electrons. The quantum dot linked to the semi-infinite leads is tuned by quantum point contacts of variable width w. We analyze the transition from a quantum wire to an open quantum dot and then to an effective closed system. The transition, as a function of w, occurs in the following sequence: evolution of quasi-Landau levels to Fano resonances and quasi-bound states between the quasi-Landau levels, followed by the formation of crossings that evolve to anti-crossings inside the quasi-Landau level region. After that, Fano resonances are created between the quasi-Landau states with the final generation of resonant tunneling peaks. By comparing the G(E,B) maps, we identify the closed and open-like limits of the system as a function of the applied magnetic field. These results were used to build quantum openness diagrams G(w,B). Also, these maps allow us to determine the w-limit value from which we can qualitatively relate the closed system properties to the open one. The above analysis can be used to identify single spinless particle effects in experimental measurements of the open quantum dot limit.

  11. Magneto-conductance fingerprints of purely quantum states in the open quantum dot limit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mendoza, Michel; Ujevic, Sebastian

    2012-01-01

    We present quantum magneto-conductance simulations, at the quantum low energy condition, to study the open quantum dot limit. The longitudinal conductance G(E,B) of spinless and non-interacting electrons is mapped as a function of the magnetic field B and the energy E of the electrons. The quantum dot linked to the semi-infinite leads is tuned by quantum point contacts of variable width w. We analyze the transition from a quantum wire to an open quantum dot and then to an effective closed system. The transition, as a function of w, occurs in the following sequence: evolution of quasi-Landau levels to Fano resonances and quasi-bound states between the quasi-Landau levels, followed by the formation of crossings that evolve to anti-crossings inside the quasi-Landau level region. After that, Fano resonances are created between the quasi-Landau states with the final generation of resonant tunneling peaks. By comparing the G(E,B) maps, we identify the closed and open-like limits of the system as a function of the applied magnetic field. These results were used to build quantum openness diagrams G(w,B). Also, these maps allow us to determine the w-limit value from which we can qualitatively relate the closed system properties to the open one. The above analysis can be used to identify single spinless particle effects in experimental measurements of the open quantum dot limit. (paper)

  12. A sensitive fluorescent nanosensor for chloramphenicol based on molecularly imprinted polymer-capped CdTe quantum dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amjadi, Mohammad; Jalili, Roghayeh; Manzoori, Jamshid L

    2016-05-01

    A novel fluorescent nanosensor using molecularly imprinted silica nanospheres embedded CdTe quantum dots (CdTe@SiO2 @MIP) was developed for detection and quantification of chloramphenicol (CAP). The imprinted sensor was prepared by synthesis of molecularly imprinting polymer (MIP) on the hydrophilic CdTe quantum dots via reverse microemulsion method using small amounts of solvents. The resulting CdTe@SiO2 @MIP nanoparticles were characterized by fluorescence, UV-vis absorption and FT-IR spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. They preserved 48% of fluorescence quantum yield of the parent quantum dots. CAP remarkably quenched the fluorescence of prepared CdTe@SiO2 @MIP, probably via electron transfer mechanism. Under the optimal conditions, the relative fluorescence intensity of CdTe@SiO2 @MIP decreased with increasing CAP by a Stern-Volmer type equation in the concentration range of 40-500 µg L(-1). The corresponding detection limit was 5.0 µg L(-1). The intra-day and inter-day values for the precision of the proposed method were all <4%. The developed sensor had a good selectivity and was applied to determine CAP in spiked human and bovine serum and milk samples with satisfactory results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Synthesis and Characterization of Aqueous Lead Selenide Quantum Dots for Solar Cell Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albert, Ancy; Sreekala, C. O.; Prabhakaran, Malini

    2018-02-01

    High quality, colloidal lead selenide (PbSe) nanoparticles possessing cube shaped morphology have been successfully synthesized by organometallic synthesis method, using oleic acid (OA) as capping agent. The use of non-coordinating solvent, 1-Octadecene (ODE), during the synthesis results in good quality nanocrystals. Morphology analysis by transmission electron microscopy reveals that cube-shaped nanocrystals with a size range of 10 nm have been produced during the synthesis. The absorption and PL spectra analysis showed an emission peak at 675 nm when excited to a wavelength of 610 nm, further confirmed the formation of PbSe nanocrystals. The surface modification of this colloidal quantum dots was then carried out using L- cysteine ligand, to make them water soluble, for solar cell application. The J-V characteristics study of this PbSe quantum dots solar cell (PbSe QDSC) showed a little power conversion efficiency which intern it shows significant advance toward effective utilization of PbSe nanocrystals sensitized in solar cells.

  14. Quantum Sensing of Mechanical Motion with a Single InAs Quantum Dot

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-03-01

    Wenner, J. M. Martinis, and A. N. Cleland, “ Quantum ground state and single- phonon control of a mechanical resonator.,” Nature, vol. 464, no...G. Nogues, S. Seidelin, J. Poizat, O. Arcizet, and M. Richard, “Strain-mediated coupling in a quantum dot- mechanical oscillator hybrid system...Pos 4 Dep 5 School of N upling quantu ctive for funda dded a semico nical resonat vances in thi es large ch ell as the spin for quantum s antum Dots

  15. Wetting layers effect on InAs/GaAs quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Chao; Lu Pengfei; Yu Zhongyuan; Cao Huawei; Zhang Lidong

    2012-01-01

    FEM combining with the K·P theory is adopted to systematically investigate the effect of wetting layers on the strain-stress profiles and electronic structures of self-organized InAs quantum dot. Four different kinds of quantum dots are introduced at the same height and aspect ratio. We found that 0.5 nm wetting layer is an appropriate thickness for InAs/GaAs quantum dots. Strain shift down about 3%∼4.5% for the cases with WL (0.5 nm) and without WL in four shapes of quantum dots. For band edge energy, wetting layers expand the potential energy gap width. When WL thickness is more than 0.8 nm, the band edge energy profiles cannot vary regularly. The electron energy is affected while for heavy hole this impact on the energy is limited. Wetting layers for the influence of the electronic structure is obviously than the heavy hole. Consequently, the electron probability density function spread from buffer to wetting layer while the center of hole's function moves from QDs internal to wetting layer when introduce WLs. When WLs thickness is larger than 0.8 nm, the electronic structures of quantum dots have changed obviously. This will affect the instrument's performance which relies on the quantum dots' optical properties.

  16. Quantitative analysis of quantum dot dynamics and emission spectra in cavity quantum electrodynamics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Kristian Høeg; Lodahl, Peter

    2013-01-01

    -resolved measurements reveal that the actual coupling strength is significantly smaller than anticipated from the spectral measurements and that the quantum dot is rather weakly coupled to the cavity. We suggest that the observed Rabi splitting is due to cavity feeding by other quantum dots and/or multi...

  17. Nonadiabatic corrections to a quantum dot quantum computer ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2014-07-02

    Jul 2, 2014 ... corrections in it. If the decoherence times of a quantum dot computer are ∼100 ns [J M Kikkawa and D D Awschalom, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 4313 (1998)] then the predicted number of one qubit gate (primitive) operations of the Loss–DiVincenzo quantum computer in such an interval of time must be >1010.

  18. Fingerprints of transversal and longitudinal coupling between induced open quantum dots in the longitudinal magneto-conductance through anti-dot lattices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ujevic, Sebastian; Mendoza, Michel

    2011-01-01

    Full text. We propose numerical simulations of longitudinal magneto conductance through a finite anti dot lattice located inside an open quantum dot with a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the plane. The system is connected to reservoirs using quantum point contacts. We discuss the relationship between the longitudinal magneto conductance and the generation of transversal couplings between the induced open quantum dots in the system. The system presents longitudinal magneto conductance maps with crossovers (between transversal bands) and closings (longitudinal decoupling) of fundamental quantum states related to the open quantum dots induced by the anti dot lattice. A relationship is observed between the distribution of anti dots and the formed conductance bands, allowing a systematic follow-up of the bands as a function of the applied magnetic field and quantum point contact width. We observed a high conductance intensity (between n- and (n + 1)-quantum of conductance, n = 1; 2...) in the regions of crossover and closing of states. This suggests transversal couplings between the induced open quantum dots of the system that can be modulated by varying both the anti dots potential and the quantum point contact width. A new continuous channel (not expected) is induced by the variation of the contact width and generate Fano resonances in the conductance. These resonances can be manipulated by the applied magnetic field

  19. A Transfer Hamiltonian Model for Devices Based on Quantum Dot Arrays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Illera

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We present a model of electron transport through a random distribution of interacting quantum dots embedded in a dielectric matrix to simulate realistic devices. The method underlying the model depends only on fundamental parameters of the system and it is based on the Transfer Hamiltonian approach. A set of noncoherent rate equations can be written and the interaction between the quantum dots and between the quantum dots and the electrodes is introduced by transition rates and capacitive couplings. A realistic modelization of the capacitive couplings, the transmission coefficients, the electron/hole tunneling currents, and the density of states of each quantum dot have been taken into account. The effects of the local potential are computed within the self-consistent field regime. While the description of the theoretical framework is kept as general as possible, two specific prototypical devices, an arbitrary array of quantum dots embedded in a matrix insulator and a transistor device based on quantum dots, are used to illustrate the kind of unique insight that numerical simulations based on the theory are able to provide.

  20. Quantum Dots in Photonic Crystal Waveguides

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sollner, Immo Nathanael

    This Thesis is focused on the study of quantum electrodynamics in photonic crystal waveguides. We investigate the interplay between a single quantum dot and the fundamental mode of the photonic crystal waveguide. We demonstrate experimental coupling eciencies for the spontaneous emission...... into the mode exceeding 98% for emitters spectrally close to the band-edge of the waveguide mode. In addition we illustrate the broadband nature of the underlying eects, by obtaining coupling eciencies above 90% for quantum dots detuned from the band edge by as far as 20nm. These values are in good agreement...... with numerical simulations. Such a high coupling eciency implies that the system can be considered an articial 1D-atom, and we theoretically show that this system can generate strong photon-photon interaction, which is an essential functionality for deterministic optical quantum information processing. We...

  1. Electrical control of single hole spins in nanowire quantum dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pribiag, V S; Nadj-Perge, S; Frolov, S M; van den Berg, J W G; van Weperen, I; Plissard, S R; Bakkers, E P A M; Kouwenhoven, L P

    2013-03-01

    The development of viable quantum computation devices will require the ability to preserve the coherence of quantum bits (qubits). Single electron spins in semiconductor quantum dots are a versatile platform for quantum information processing, but controlling decoherence remains a considerable challenge. Hole spins in III-V semiconductors have unique properties, such as a strong spin-orbit interaction and weak coupling to nuclear spins, and therefore, have the potential for enhanced spin control and longer coherence times. A weaker hyperfine interaction has previously been reported in self-assembled quantum dots using quantum optics techniques, but the development of hole-spin-based electronic devices in conventional III-V heterostructures has been limited by fabrication challenges. Here, we show that gate-tunable hole quantum dots can be formed in InSb nanowires and used to demonstrate Pauli spin blockade and electrical control of single hole spins. The devices are fully tunable between hole and electron quantum dots, which allows the hyperfine interaction strengths, g-factors and spin blockade anisotropies to be compared directly in the two regimes.

  2. Magneto-exciton transitions in laterally coupled quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barticevic, Zdenka; Pacheco, Monica; Duque, Carlos A.; Oliveira, Luiz E.

    2008-03-01

    We present a study of the electronic and optical properties of laterally coupled quantum dots. The excitonic spectra of this system under the effects of an external magnetic field applied perpendicular to the plane of the dots is obtained, with the potential of every individual dot taken as the superposition of a quantum well potential along the axial direction with a lateral parabolic confinement potential, and the coupled two- dot system then modeled by a superposition of the potentials of each dot, with their minima at different positions and truncated at the intersection plane. The wave functions and eigenvalues are obtained in the effective-mass approximation by using an extended variational approach in which the magneto- exciton states are simultaneously obtained [1]. The allowed magneto-exciton transitions are investigated by using circularly polarized radiation in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. We present results on the excitonic absorption coefficient as a function of the photon energy for different geometric quantum-dot confinement and magnetic-field values. Reference: [1] Z. Barticevic, M. Pacheco, C. A. Duque and L. E. Oliveira, Phys. Rev. B 68, 073312 (2003).

  3. Gate-induced carrier delocalization in quantum dot field effect transistors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turk, Michael E; Choi, Ji-Hyuk; Oh, Soong Ju; Fafarman, Aaron T; Diroll, Benjamin T; Murray, Christopher B; Kagan, Cherie R; Kikkawa, James M

    2014-10-08

    We study gate-controlled, low-temperature resistance and magnetotransport in indium-doped CdSe quantum dot field effect transistors. We show that using the gate to accumulate electrons in the quantum dot channel increases the "localization product" (localization length times dielectric constant) describing transport at the Fermi level, as expected for Fermi level changes near a mobility edge. Our measurements suggest that the localization length increases to significantly greater than the quantum dot diameter.

  4. Highly Efficient Spontaneous Emission from Self-Assembled Quantum Dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, Jeppe; Lund-Hansen, Toke; Hvam, Jørn Märcher

    2006-01-01

    We present time resolved measurements of spontaneous emission (SE) from InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs). The measurements are interpreted using Fermi's Golden Rule and from this analysis we establish the parameters for high quantum efficiency.......We present time resolved measurements of spontaneous emission (SE) from InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs). The measurements are interpreted using Fermi's Golden Rule and from this analysis we establish the parameters for high quantum efficiency....

  5. Evidence for possible quantum dot interdiffusion induced by cap layer growth

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jasinski, J.; Czeczott, M.; Gladysz, A.; Babinski, A.; Kozubowski, J.

    1999-01-01

    Self-organised InGaAs quantum dots were grown on (001) GaAs substrates and covered with two different types of cap layers grown at significantly different temperatures. In order to determine quantum dot emission energy and dot size distribution, photoluminescence and transmission electron microscopy studies were carried out on such samples. Simple theoretical model neglecting effect of interdiffusion allowed for correlation between quantum dot size and photoluminescence emission energy only in the case of dots covered by cap layers grown at the lower temperature. For dots covered by layers grown at the higher temperature such correlation was possible only when strong interdiffusion was assumed. (author)

  6. Microfluidic bead-based multienzyme-nanoparticle amplification for detection of circulating tumor cells in the blood using quantum dots labels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, He, E-mail: mzhang_he@126.com; Fu, Xin; Hu, Jiayi; Zhu, Zhenjun

    2013-05-24

    Graphical abstract: A microfluidic beads-based nucleic acid sensor for sensitive detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood using multienzyme-nanoparticle amplification and quantum dots labels was developed. The chip-based CTCs analysis could detect reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) products of tumor cell as low as 1 tumor cell (e.g. CEA expressing cell) in 1 mL blood sample. This microfluidic beads-based nucleic acid sensor is a promising platform for disease-related nucleic acid molecules at the lowest level at their earliest incidence. -- Highlights: •Combination of microfluidic bead-based platform and enzyme–probe–AuNPs is proposed. •The developed nucleic acid sensor could respond to 5 fM of tumor associated DNA. •Microfluidic platform and multienzyme-labeled AuNPs greatly enhanced sensitivity. •The developed nucleic acid sensor could respond to RT-PCR products of tumor cell as low as 1 tumor cell in 1 mL blood sample. •We report a sensitive nucleic acid sensor for detection of circulating tumor cells. -- Abstract: This study reports the development of a microfluidic bead-based nucleic acid sensor for sensitive detection of circulating tumor cells in blood samples using multienzyme-nanoparticle amplification and quantum dot labels. In this method, the microbeads functionalized with the capture probes and modified electron rich proteins were arrayed within a microfluidic channel as sensing elements, and the gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) functionalized with the horseradish peroxidases (HRP) and DNA probes were used as labels. Hence, two signal amplification approaches are integrated for enhancing the detection sensitivity of circulating tumor cells. First, the large surface area of Au nanoparticle carrier allows several binding events of HRP on each nanosphere. Second, enhanced mass transport capability inherent from microfluidics leads to higher capture efficiency of targets because continuous flow within micro

  7. Quantum-dot cluster-state computing with encoded qubits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weinstein, Yaakov S.; Hellberg, C. Stephen; Levy, Jeremy

    2005-01-01

    A class of architectures is advanced for cluster-state quantum computation using quantum dots. These architectures include using single and multiple dots as logical qubits. Special attention is given to supercoherent qubits introduced by Bacon et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 247902 (2001)] for which we discuss the effects of various errors and present a means of error protection

  8. Exciton binding energy in a pyramidal quantum dot

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    A ANITHA

    2018-03-27

    Mar 27, 2018 ... screening function on exciton binding energy in a pyramid-shaped quantum dot of ... tures may generate unique properties and they show .... where Ee is the ground-state energy of the electron in ... Figure 1. The geometry of the pyramidal quantum dot. base and H is the height of the pyramid which is taken.

  9. Fractional decay of quantum dots in photonic crystals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Philip Trøst; Koenderink, Femius; Lodahl, Peter

    2008-01-01

    We define a practical measure for the degree of fractional decay and establish conditions for the effect to be observable for quantum dots in photonic crystals exhibiting absorptive losses.......We define a practical measure for the degree of fractional decay and establish conditions for the effect to be observable for quantum dots in photonic crystals exhibiting absorptive losses....

  10. Stochastic quantum confinement in nanocrystalline silicon layers: The role of quantum dots, quantum wires and localized states

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramírez-Porras, A.; García, O.; Vargas, C.; Corrales, A.; Solís, J.D.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • PL spectra of porous silicon samples have been studied using a stochastic model. • This model can deconvolute PL spectra into three components. • Quantum dots, quantum wires and localized states have been identified. • Nanostructure diameters are in the range from 2.2 nm to 4.0 nm. • Contributions from quantum wires are small compared to the others. - Abstract: Nanocrystallites of Silicon have been produced by electrochemical etching of crystal wafers. The obtained samples show photoluminescence in the red band of the visible spectrum when illuminated by ultraviolet light. The photoluminescence spectra can be deconvolved into three components according to a stochastic quantum confinement model: one band coming from Nanocrystalline dots, or quantum dots, one from Nanocrystalline wires, or quantum wires, and one from the presence of localized surface states related to silicon oxide. The results fit well within other published models

  11. Stochastic quantum confinement in nanocrystalline silicon layers: The role of quantum dots, quantum wires and localized states

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ramírez-Porras, A., E-mail: aramirez@fisica.ucr.ac.cr [Centro de Investigación en Ciencia e Ingeniería de Materiales (CICIMA), Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca 11501 (Costa Rica); Escuela de Física, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca 11501 (Costa Rica); García, O. [Escuela de Física, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca 11501 (Costa Rica); Escuela de Química, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca 11501 (Costa Rica); Vargas, C. [Escuela de Física, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca 11501 (Costa Rica); Corrales, A. [Escuela de Física, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca 11501 (Costa Rica); Escuela de Química, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca 11501 (Costa Rica); Solís, J.D. [Escuela de Física, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca 11501 (Costa Rica)

    2015-08-30

    Highlights: • PL spectra of porous silicon samples have been studied using a stochastic model. • This model can deconvolute PL spectra into three components. • Quantum dots, quantum wires and localized states have been identified. • Nanostructure diameters are in the range from 2.2 nm to 4.0 nm. • Contributions from quantum wires are small compared to the others. - Abstract: Nanocrystallites of Silicon have been produced by electrochemical etching of crystal wafers. The obtained samples show photoluminescence in the red band of the visible spectrum when illuminated by ultraviolet light. The photoluminescence spectra can be deconvolved into three components according to a stochastic quantum confinement model: one band coming from Nanocrystalline dots, or quantum dots, one from Nanocrystalline wires, or quantum wires, and one from the presence of localized surface states related to silicon oxide. The results fit well within other published models.

  12. Nonequilibrium Electron Transport Through a Quantum Dot from Kubo Formula

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lue Rong; Zhang Guangming

    2005-01-01

    Based on the Kubo formula for an electron tunneling junction, we revisit the nonequilibrium transport properties through a quantum dot. Since the Fermi level of the quantum dot is set by the conduction electrons of the leads, we calculate the electron current from the left side by assuming the quantum dot coupled to the right lead as another side of the tunneling junction, and the other way round is used to calculate the current from the right side. By symmetrizing these two currents, an effective local density states on the dot can be obtained, and is discussed at high and low temperatures, respectively.

  13. High-resolution photoluminescence studies of single semiconductor quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leosson, Kristjan; Østergaard, John Erland; Jensen, Jacob Riis

    2000-01-01

    Semiconductor quantum dots, especially those formed by self-organized growth, are considered a promising material system for future optical devices [1] and the optical properties of quantum dot ensembles have been investigated in detail over the past years. Recently, considerable interest has...

  14. Coupled effects of solution chemistry and hydrodynamics on the mobility and transport of quantum dot nanomaterials in the Vadose Zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    To investigate the coupled effects of solution chemistry and vadose zone processes on the mobility of quantum dot (QD) nanoparticles, laboratory scale transport experiments were performed. The complex coupled effects of ionic strength, size of QD aggregates, surface tension, contact angle, infiltrat...

  15. Electrostatically defined silicon quantum dots with counted antimony donor implants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singh, M., E-mail: msingh@sandia.gov; Luhman, D. R.; Lilly, M. P. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185 (United States); Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87175 (United States); Pacheco, J. L.; Perry, D.; Garratt, E.; Ten Eyck, G.; Bishop, N. C.; Wendt, J. R.; Manginell, R. P.; Dominguez, J.; Pluym, T.; Bielejec, E.; Carroll, M. S. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185 (United States)

    2016-02-08

    Deterministic control over the location and number of donors is crucial to donor spin quantum bits (qubits) in semiconductor based quantum computing. In this work, a focused ion beam is used to implant antimony donors in 100 nm × 150 nm windows straddling quantum dots. Ion detectors are integrated next to the quantum dots to sense the implants. The numbers of donors implanted can be counted to a precision of a single ion. In low-temperature transport measurements, regular Coulomb blockade is observed from the quantum dots. Charge offsets indicative of donor ionization are also observed in devices with counted donor implants.

  16. Quantum phase transition of light as a control of the entanglement between interacting quantum dots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Barragan, Angela; Vera-Ciro, Carlos; Mondragon-Shem, Ian

    We study coupled quantum dots arranged in a photonic crystal, interacting with light which undergoes a quantum phase transition. At the mean-field level for the infinite lattice, we compute the concurrence of the quantum dots as a measure of their entanglement. We find that this quantity smoothly

  17. Coal as an abundant source of graphene quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Ruquan; Xiang, Changsheng; Lin, Jian; Peng, Zhiwei; Huang, Kewei; Yan, Zheng; Cook, Nathan P.; Samuel, Errol L. G.; Hwang, Chih-Chau; Ruan, Gedeng; Ceriotti, Gabriel; Raji, Abdul-Rahman O.; Martí, Angel A.; Tour, James M.

    2013-12-01

    Coal is the most abundant and readily combustible energy resource being used worldwide. However, its structural characteristic creates a perception that coal is only useful for producing energy via burning. Here we report a facile approach to synthesize tunable graphene quantum dots from various types of coal, and establish that the unique coal structure has an advantage over pure sp2-carbon allotropes for producing quantum dots. The crystalline carbon within the coal structure is easier to oxidatively displace than when pure sp2-carbon structures are used, resulting in nanometre-sized graphene quantum dots with amorphous carbon addends on the edges. The synthesized graphene quantum dots, produced in up to 20% isolated yield from coal, are soluble and fluorescent in aqueous solution, providing promise for applications in areas such as bioimaging, biomedicine, photovoltaics and optoelectronics, in addition to being inexpensive additives for structural composites.

  18. Quantum simulation of a Fermi-Hubbard model using a semiconductor quantum dot array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hensgens, T.; Fujita, T.; Janssen, L.; Li, Xiao; van Diepen, C. J.; Reichl, C.; Wegscheider, W.; Das Sarma, S.; Vandersypen, L. M. K.

    2017-08-01

    Interacting fermions on a lattice can develop strong quantum correlations, which are the cause of the classical intractability of many exotic phases of matter. Current efforts are directed towards the control of artificial quantum systems that can be made to emulate the underlying Fermi-Hubbard models. Electrostatically confined conduction-band electrons define interacting quantum coherent spin and charge degrees of freedom that allow all-electrical initialization of low-entropy states and readily adhere to the Fermi-Hubbard Hamiltonian. Until now, however, the substantial electrostatic disorder of the solid state has meant that only a few attempts at emulating Fermi-Hubbard physics on solid-state platforms have been made. Here we show that for gate-defined quantum dots this disorder can be suppressed in a controlled manner. Using a semi-automated and scalable set of experimental tools, we homogeneously and independently set up the electron filling and nearest-neighbour tunnel coupling in a semiconductor quantum dot array so as to simulate a Fermi-Hubbard system. With this set-up, we realize a detailed characterization of the collective Coulomb blockade transition, which is the finite-size analogue of the interaction-driven Mott metal-to-insulator transition. As automation and device fabrication of semiconductor quantum dots continue to improve, the ideas presented here will enable the investigation of the physics of ever more complex many-body states using quantum dots.

  19. Quantum simulation of a Fermi-Hubbard model using a semiconductor quantum dot array.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hensgens, T; Fujita, T; Janssen, L; Li, Xiao; Van Diepen, C J; Reichl, C; Wegscheider, W; Das Sarma, S; Vandersypen, L M K

    2017-08-02

    Interacting fermions on a lattice can develop strong quantum correlations, which are the cause of the classical intractability of many exotic phases of matter. Current efforts are directed towards the control of artificial quantum systems that can be made to emulate the underlying Fermi-Hubbard models. Electrostatically confined conduction-band electrons define interacting quantum coherent spin and charge degrees of freedom that allow all-electrical initialization of low-entropy states and readily adhere to the Fermi-Hubbard Hamiltonian. Until now, however, the substantial electrostatic disorder of the solid state has meant that only a few attempts at emulating Fermi-Hubbard physics on solid-state platforms have been made. Here we show that for gate-defined quantum dots this disorder can be suppressed in a controlled manner. Using a semi-automated and scalable set of experimental tools, we homogeneously and independently set up the electron filling and nearest-neighbour tunnel coupling in a semiconductor quantum dot array so as to simulate a Fermi-Hubbard system. With this set-up, we realize a detailed characterization of the collective Coulomb blockade transition, which is the finite-size analogue of the interaction-driven Mott metal-to-insulator transition. As automation and device fabrication of semiconductor quantum dots continue to improve, the ideas presented here will enable the investigation of the physics of ever more complex many-body states using quantum dots.

  20. Cu−In−Ga−S quantum dot composition-dependent device performance of electrically driven light-emitting diodes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jong-Hoon; Lee, Ki-Heon; Jo, Dae-Yeon; Yang, Heesun, E-mail: hyang@hongik.ac.kr [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Hongik University, Seoul 121-791 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Yangjin; Hwang, Jun Yeon [Institute of Advanced Composite Materials, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Jeonbuk 565-905 (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-09-29

    Colloidal synthesis of ternary and quaternary quantum dots (QDs) of In/Ga ratio-varied Cu−In{sub 1−x}−Ga{sub x}−S (CIGS) with nominal x = 0, 0.5, 0.7, and 1 and their application for the fabrication of quantum dot-light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) are reported. Four QLEDs having CIGS QDs with different compositions are all solution-processed in the framework of multilayered structure, where QD emitting layer is sandwiched by hybrid charge transport layers of poly(9-vinlycarbazole) and ZnO nanoparticles. The device performance such as luminance and efficiency is found to be strongly dependent on the composition of CIGS QDs, and well interpreted by the device energy level diagram proposed through the determination of QD valence band minima by photoelectron emission spectroscopic measurement.

  1. Quantum dot lasers: From promise to high-performance devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattacharya, P.; Mi, Z.; Yang, J.; Basu, D.; Saha, D.

    2009-03-01

    Ever since self-organized In(Ga)As/Ga(AI)As quantum dots were realized by molecular beam epitaxy, it became evident that these coherently strained nanostructures could be used as the active media in devices. While the expected advantages stemming from three-dimensional quantum confinement were clearly outlined, these were not borne out by the early experiments. It took a very detailed understanding of the unique carrier dynamics in the quantum dots to exploit their full potential. As a result, we now have lasers with emission wavelengths ranging from 0.7 to 1.54 μm, on GaAs, which demonstrate ultra-low threshold currents, near-zero chip and α-factor and large modulation bandwidth. State-of-the-art performance characteristics of these lasers are briefly reviewed. The growth, fabrication and characteristics of quantum dot lasers on silicon substrates are also described. With the incorporation of multiple quantum dot layers as a dislocation filter, we demonstrate lasers with Jth=900 A/cm 2. The monolithic integration of the lasers with guided wave modulators on silicon is also described. Finally, the properties of spin-polarized lasers with quantum dot active regions are described. Spin injection of electrons is done with a MnAs/GaAs tunnel barrier. Laser operation at 200 K is demonstrated, with the possibility of room temperature operation in the near future.

  2. Study of CdTe quantum dots grown using a two-step annealing method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Kriti; Pandey, Praveen K.; Nagpal, Swati; Bhatnagar, P. K.; Mathur, P. C.

    2006-02-01

    High size dispersion, large average radius of quantum dot and low-volume ratio has been a major hurdle in the development of quantum dot based devices. In the present paper, we have grown CdTe quantum dots in a borosilicate glass matrix using a two-step annealing method. Results of optical characterization and the theoretical model of absorption spectra have shown that quantum dots grown using two-step annealing have lower average radius, lesser size dispersion, higher volume ratio and higher decrease in bulk free energy as compared to quantum dots grown conventionally.

  3. Nonequilibrium carrier dynamics in self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wesseli, M.; Ruppert, C.; Trumm, S.; Betz, M.; Krenner, H.J.; Finley, J.J.

    2006-01-01

    Carrier dynamics in InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots is analyzed with highly sensitive femtosecond transmission spectroscopy. In a first step, measurements on a large ensemble of nanoislands reveal the dynamical electronic filling of quantum dots from the surrounding wetting layer. Most interestingly, we find a spin-preserving phonon mediated scattering into fully localized states within a few picoseconds. Then, individual artificial atoms are isolated with metallic shadow masks. For the first time, a single self-assembled quantum dot is addressed in an ultrafast transmission experiment. We find bleaching signals in the order of 10 -5 that arise from individual interband transitions of one quantum dot. As a result, we have developed an ultrafast optical tool for both manipulation and read-out of a single self-assembled quantum dot. (copyright 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

  4. Synthesis of colloidal SnSe quantum dots by electron beam irradiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li Zhen; Peng Liwei; Fang Yaoguo; Chen Zhiwen [Shanghai Applied Radiation Institute, Shanghai University, Shanghai 201800 (China); Pan Dengyu [Institute of Nanochemistry and Nanobiology, Shanghai University, Shanghai 201800 (China); Wu Minghong, E-mail: mhwu@staff.shu.edu.cn [Shanghai Applied Radiation Institute, Shanghai University, Shanghai 201800 (China)

    2011-12-15

    Water-soluble orthorhombic colloidal SnSe quantum dots with an average diameter of 4 nm were successfully prepared by a novel irradiation route using an electronic accelerator as a radiation source and hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant. The quantum dots exhibit a large direct bandgap of 3.89 eV, greatly blue shifted compared with that of bulk SnSe (1.0 eV) due to the quantum confinement effect. The quantum dots show blue photoluminescence at {approx}420 nm. The influence of CTAB on the growth of the quantum dots was investigated and a possible reaction/growth mechanism was proposed. - Highlights: > A rapid, facile and green strategy is developed to synthesize SnSe QDs. > The raw materials are green and easily obtained. > The surfactant CTAB plays an important role in the formation of SnSe quantum dots. > The obtained SnSe QDs is well-dispersed with the average size of around 4 nm.

  5. Quantum dots in imaging, drug delivery and sensor applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matea, Cristian T; Mocan, Teodora; Tabaran, Flaviu; Pop, Teodora; Mosteanu, Ofelia; Puia, Cosmin; Iancu, Cornel; Mocan, Lucian

    2017-01-01

    Quantum dots (QDs), also known as nanoscale semiconductor crystals, are nanoparticles with unique optical and electronic properties such as bright and intensive fluorescence. Since most conventional organic label dyes do not offer the near-infrared (>650 nm) emission possibility, QDs, with their tunable optical properties, have gained a lot of interest. They possess characteristics such as good chemical and photo-stability, high quantum yield and size-tunable light emission. Different types of QDs can be excited with the same light wavelength, and their narrow emission bands can be detected simultaneously for multiple assays. There is an increasing interest in the development of nano-theranostics platforms for simultaneous sensing, imaging and therapy. QDs have great potential for such applications, with notable results already published in the fields of sensors, drug delivery and biomedical imaging. This review summarizes the latest developments available in literature regarding the use of QDs for medical applications.

  6. Resonance fluorescence revival in a voltage-controlled semiconductor quantum dot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reigue, Antoine; Lemaître, Aristide; Gomez Carbonell, Carmen; Ulysse, Christian; Merghem, Kamel; Guilet, Stéphane; Hostein, Richard; Voliotis, Valia

    2018-02-01

    We demonstrate systematic resonance fluorescence recovery with near-unity emission efficiency in single quantum dots embedded in a charge-tunable device in a wave-guiding geometry. The quantum dot charge state is controlled by a gate voltage, through carrier tunneling from a close-lying Fermi sea, stabilizing the resonantly photocreated electron-hole pair. The electric field cancels out the charging/discharging mechanisms from nearby traps toward the quantum dots, responsible for the usually observed inhibition of the resonant fluorescence. Fourier transform spectroscopy as a function of the applied voltage shows a strong increase in the coherence time though not reaching the radiative limit. These charge controlled quantum dots can act as quasi-perfect deterministic single-photon emitters, with one laser pulse converted into one emitted single photon.

  7. Polymer-coated quantum dots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tomczak, N.; Liu, Rongrong; Vancso, Gyula J.

    2013-01-01

    Quantum Dots (QDs) are semiconductor nanocrystals with distinct photophysical properties finding applications in biology, biosensing, and optoelectronics. Polymeric coatings of QDs are used primarily to provide long-term colloidal stability to QDs dispersed in solutions and also as a source of

  8. Quantum Dot Nanobioelectronics and Selective Antimicrobial Redox Interventions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodman, Samuel Martin

    The unique properties of nanomaterials have engendered a great deal of interest in applying them for applications ranging from solid state physics to bio-imaging. One class of nanomaterials, known collectively as quantum dots, are defined as semiconducting crystals which have a characteristic dimension smaller than the excitonic radius of the bulk material which leads to quantum confinement effects. In this size regime, excited charge carriers behave like prototypical particles in a box, with their energy levels defined by the dimensions of the constituent particle. This is the source of the tunable optical properties which have drawn a great deal of attention with regards to finding appropriate applications for these materials. This dissertation is divided into multiple sections grouped by the type of application explored. The first sectoin investigates the energetic interactions of physically-coupled quantum dots and DNA, with the goal of gaining insight into how self-assembled molecular wires can bridge the energetic states of physically separated nanocrystals. Chapter 1 begins with an introduction to the properties of quantum dots, the conductive properties of DNA, and the common characterization methods used to characterize materials on the nanoscale. In Chapter 2 scanning tunneling measurements of QD-DNA constructs on the single particle level are presented which show the tunable coupling between the two materials and their resulting hybrid electronic structure. This is expanded upon in Chapter 3 where the conduction of photogenerated charges in QD-DNA hybrid thin films are characterized, which exhibit different charge transfer pathways through the constituent nucleobases depending on the energy of the incident light and resulting electrons. Complementary investigations of energy transfer mediated through DNA are presented in Chapter 4, with confirmation of Dexter-like transfer being facilitated through the oligonucleotides. The second section quantifies the

  9. Phonon-assisted decoherence and tunneling in quantum dot molecules

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grodecka-Grad, Anna; Foerstner, Jens

    2011-01-01

    processes with relevant acoustic phonons. We show that the relaxation is dominated by phonon-assisted electron tunneling between constituent quantum dots and occurs on a picosecond time scale. The dependence of the time evolution of the quantum dot occupation probabilities on the energy mismatch between...

  10. Nuclear Spin Nanomagnet in an Optically Excited Quantum Dot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korenev, V. L.

    2007-12-01

    Linearly polarized light tuned slightly below the optical transition of the negatively charged exciton (trion) in a single quantum dot causes the spontaneous nuclear spin polarization (self-polarization) at a level close to 100%. The effective magnetic field of spin-polarized nuclei shifts the optical transition energy close to resonance with photon energy. The resonantly enhanced Overhauser effect sustains the stability of the nuclear self-polarization even in the absence of spin polarization of the quantum dot electron. As a result the optically selected single quantum dot represents a tiny magnet with the ferromagnetic ordering of nuclear spins—the nuclear spin nanomagnet.

  11. Theory of the Quantum Dot Hybrid Qubit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friesen, Mark

    2015-03-01

    The quantum dot hybrid qubit, formed from three electrons in two quantum dots, combines the desirable features of charge qubits (fast manipulation) and spin qubits (long coherence times). The hybridized spin and charge states yield a unique energy spectrum with several useful properties, including two different operating regimes that are relatively immune to charge noise due to the presence of optimal working points or ``sweet spots.'' In this talk, I will describe dc and ac-driven gate operations of the quantum dot hybrid qubit. I will analyze improvements in the dephasing that are enabled by the sweet spots, and I will discuss the outlook for quantum hybrid qubits in terms of scalability. This work was supported in part by ARO (W911NF-12-0607), NSF (PHY-1104660), the USDOD, and the Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program. The views and conclusions contained in this presentation are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the US government.

  12. Effects of Shape and Strain Distribution of Quantum Dots on Optical Transition in the Quantum Dot Infrared Photodetectors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fu Y

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract We present a systemic theoretical study of the electronic properties of the quantum dots inserted in quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIPs. The strain distribution of three different shaped quantum dots (QDs with a same ratio of the base to the vertical aspect is calculated by using the short-range valence-force-field (VFF approach. The calculated results show that the hydrostatic strain ɛHvaries little with change of the shape, while the biaxial strain ɛBchanges a lot for different shapes of QDs. The recursion method is used to calculate the energy levels of the bound states in QDs. Compared with the strain, the shape plays a key role in the difference of electronic bound energy levels. The numerical results show that the deference of bound energy levels of lenslike InAs QD matches well with the experimental results. Moreover, the pyramid-shaped QD has the greatest difference from the measured experimental data.

  13. Spin-orbit effects in carbon-nanotube double quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Weiss, S; Rashba, E I; Kuemmeth, Ferdinand

    2010-01-01

    We study the energy spectrum of symmetric double quantum dots in narrow-gap carbon nanotubes with one and two electrostatically confined electrons in the presence of spin-orbit and Coulomb interactions. Compared to GaAs quantum dots, the spectrum exhibits a much richer structure because of the spin...... between the dots. For the two-electron regime, the detailed structure of the spin-orbit split energy spectrum is investigated as a function of detuning between the quantum dots in a 22-dimensional Hilbert space within the framework of a single-longitudinal-mode model. We find a competing effect......-orbit interaction that couples the electron's isospin to its real spin through two independent coupling constants. In a single dot, both constants combine to split the spectrum into two Kramers doublets while the antisymmetric constant solely controls the difference in the tunneling rates of the Kramers doublets...

  14. SELF-ORGANIZATION OF LEAD SULFIDE QUANTUM DOTS INTO SUPERSTRUCTURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena V. Ushakova

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The method of X-ray structural analysis (X-ray scattering at small angles is used to show that the structures obtained by self-organization on a substrate of lead sulfide (PbS quantum dots are ordered arrays. Self-organization of quantum dots occurs at slow evaporation of solvent from a cuvette. The cuvette is a thin layer of mica with teflon ring on it. The positions of peaks in SAXS pattern are used to calculate crystal lattice of obtained ordered structures. Such structures have a primitive orthorhombic crystal lattice. Calculated lattice parameters are: a = 21,1 (nm; b = 36,2 (nm; c = 62,5 (nm. Dimensions of structures are tens of micrometers. The spectral properties of PbS QDs superstructures and kinetic parameters of their luminescence are investigated. Absorption band of superstructures is broadened as compared to the absorption band of the quantum dots in solution; the luminescence band is slightly shifted to the red region of the spectrum, while its bandwidth is not changed much. Luminescence lifetime of obtained structures has been significantly decreased in comparison with the isolated quantum dots in solution, but remained the same for the lead sulfide quantum dots close-packed ensembles. Such superstructures can be used to produce solar cells with improved characteristics.

  15. Giant fifth-order nonlinearity via tunneling induced quantum interference in triple quantum dots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Si-Cong Tian

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Schemes for giant fifth-order nonlinearity via tunneling in both linear and triangular triple quantum dots are proposed. In both configurations, the real part of the fifth-order nonlinearity can be greatly enhanced, and simultaneously the absorption is suppressed. The analytical expression and the dressed states of the system show that the two tunnelings between the neighboring quantum dots can induce quantum interference, resulting in the giant higher-order nonlinearity. The scheme proposed here may have important applications in quantum information processing at low light level.

  16. InP quantum dots embedded in GaP: Optical properties and carrier dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hatami, F.; Masselink, W.T.; Schrottke, L.; Tomm, J.W.; Talalaev, V.; Kristukat, C.; Goni, A.R.

    2003-01-01

    The optical emission and dynamics of carriers in Stranski-Krastanow self-organized InP quantum dots embedded in a GaP matrix are studied. InP deposited on GaP (001) using gas-source molecular-beam epitaxy forms quantum dots for InP coverage greater than 1.8 monolayers. Strong photoluminescence from the quantum dots is observed up to room temperature at about 2 eV; photoluminescence from the two-dimensional InP wetting layer is measured at about 2.2 eV. Modeling based on the 'model-solid theory' indicates that the band alignment for the InP quantum dots is direct and type I. Furthermore, low-temperature time-resolved photoluminescence measurements indicate that the carrier lifetime in the quantum dots is about 2 ns, typical for type-I quantum dots. Pressure-dependent photoluminescence measurements provide further evidence for a type-I band alignment for InP/GaP quantum dots at normal pressure with the GaP X states lying about 30 meV higher than the Γ states in the InP quantum dots, but indicate that they become type II under hydrostatic pressures of about 1.2 GPa

  17. Unidirectional reflectionless phenomena in a non-Hermitian quantum system of quantum dots coupled to a plasmonic waveguide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Nan; Zhang, Cong; Jin, Xing Ri; Zhang, Ying Qiao; Lee, YoungPak

    2018-02-19

    Unidirectional reflectionless phenomena are investigated theoretically in a non-Hermitian quantum system composed of several quantum dots and a plasmonic waveguide. By adjusting the phase shifts between quantum dots, single- and dual-band unidirectional reflectionlessnesses are realized at exceptional points based on two and three quantum dots coupled to a plasmonic waveguide, respectively. In addition, single- and dual-band unidirectional perfect absorptions with high quality factors are obtained at the vicinity of exceptional points.

  18. Helical quantum states in HgTe quantum dots with inverted band structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Kai; Lou, Wen-Kai

    2011-05-20

    We investigate theoretically the electron states in HgTe quantum dots (QDs) with inverted band structures. In sharp contrast to conventional semiconductor quantum dots, the quantum states in the gap of the HgTe QD are fully spin-polarized and show ringlike density distributions near the boundary of the QD and spin-angular momentum locking. The persistent charge currents and magnetic moments, i.e., the Aharonov-Bohm effect, can be observed in such a QD structure. This feature offers us a practical way to detect these exotic ringlike edge states by using the SQUID technique.

  19. Quantum optics with quantum dots in photonic nanowires

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Claudon, Julien; Munsch, Matthieu; Bleuse, Joel

    2012-01-01

    Besides microcavities and photonic crystals, photonic nanowires have recently emerged as a novel resource for solidstate quantum optics. We will review recent studies which demonstrate an excellent control over the spontaneous emission of InAs quantum dots (QDs) embedded in single-mode Ga...... quantum optoelectronic devices. Quite amazingly, this approach has for instance permitted (unlike microcavity-based approaches) to combine for the first time a record-high efficiency (72%) and a negligible g(2) in a QD single photon source....

  20. Electroluminescence spectra of an STM-tip-induced quantum dot

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Croitoru, M.D.; Gladilin, V.N.; Fomin, V.; Devreese, J.T.; Kemerink, M.; Koenraad, P.M.; Sauthoff, K.; Wolter, J.H.; Long, A.R.; Davies, J.H.

    2003-01-01

    We analyse the electroluminescence measurements performed on a STM-tipImduced quantum dot in a GaAs layer. Positions of electroluminescence peaks, attributed to the electron-hole recombination in the quantum dot, are very sensitive to the electron tunnelling current even in the case when the current

  1. Hybrid structures based on gold nanoparticles and semiconductor quantum dots for biosensor applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kurochkina M

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Margarita Kurochkina,1 Elena Konshina,1 Aleksandr Oseev,2 Soeren Hirsch3 1Centre of Information Optical Technologies, ITMO University, Saint Petersburg, Russia; 2Institute of Micro and Sensor Systems, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany; 3Department of Engineering, University of Applied Sciences Brandenburg, Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany Background: The luminescence amplification of semiconductor quantum dots (QD in the presence of self-assembled gold nanoparticles (Au NPs is one of way for creating biosensors with highly efficient transduction. Aims: The objective of this study was to fabricate the hybrid structures based on semiconductor CdSe/ZnS QDs and Au NP arrays and to use them as biosensors of protein. Methods: In this paper, the hybrid structures based on CdSe/ZnS QDs and Au NP arrays were fabricated using spin coating processes. Au NP arrays deposited on a glass wafer were investigated by optical microscopy and absorption spectroscopy depending on numbers of spin coating layers and their baking temperature. Bovine serum albumin (BSA was used as the target protein analyte in a phosphate buffer. A confocal laser scanning microscope was used to study the luminescent properties of Au NP/QD hybrid structures and to test BSA. Results: The dimensions of Au NP aggregates increased and the space between them decreased with increasing processing temperature. At the same time, a blue shift of the plasmon resonance peak in the absorption spectra of Au NP arrays was observed. The deposition of CdSe/ZnS QDs with a core diameter of 5 nm on the surface of the Au NP arrays caused an increase in absorption and a red shift of the plasmon peak in the spectra. The exciton–plasmon enhancement of the QDs’ photoluminescence intensity has been obtained at room temperature for hybrid structures with Au NPs array pretreated at temperatures of 100°C and 150°C. It has been found that an increase in the weight content of BSA

  2. Luminescent behavior of cadmium sulfide quantum dots for gallic acid estimation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Suman; Garg, Sourav; Chahal, Jitender; Raheja, Khushboo; Singh, Deepak; Singla, M. L.

    2013-03-01

    Thioglycolic acid capped cadmium sulfide (CdS/T) quantum dots have been synthesized using wet chemistry and their optical behavior has been investigated using UV-visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. The role of the capping agent, sulfide source concentration, pH and temperature has been studied and discussed. Studies showed that alkaline pH leads to a decrease in the size of quantum dots and reflux temperature above 70 °C resulted in red-shift of emission spectra which is due to narrowing of the bandgap. Further, to reduce the toxicity and photochemical instability of quantum dots, the quantum dots have been functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG), which resulted in a 20% enhancement of the fluorescence intensity. The application potential of CdS/T-PEG quantum dots was further studied using gallic acid as a model compound. The sensing is based on fluorescence quenching of quantum dots in the presence of gallic acid, and this study showed linearity in the range from 1.3 × 10-8 to 46.5 × 10-8 mM, with a detection limit of 3.6 × 10-8 mM.

  3. Luminescent behavior of cadmium sulfide quantum dots for gallic acid estimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Suman; Garg, Sourav; Chahal, Jitender; Raheja, Khushboo; Singla, M L; Singh, Deepak

    2013-01-01

    Thioglycolic acid capped cadmium sulfide (CdS/T) quantum dots have been synthesized using wet chemistry and their optical behavior has been investigated using UV–visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. The role of the capping agent, sulfide source concentration, pH and temperature has been studied and discussed. Studies showed that alkaline pH leads to a decrease in the size of quantum dots and reflux temperature above 70 °C resulted in red-shift of emission spectra which is due to narrowing of the bandgap. Further, to reduce the toxicity and photochemical instability of quantum dots, the quantum dots have been functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG), which resulted in a 20% enhancement of the fluorescence intensity. The application potential of CdS/T-PEG quantum dots was further studied using gallic acid as a model compound. The sensing is based on fluorescence quenching of quantum dots in the presence of gallic acid, and this study showed linearity in the range from 1.3 × 10 −8 to 46.5 × 10 −8 mM, with a detection limit of 3.6 × 10 −8 mM. (paper)

  4. Magnetic control of dipolaritons in quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rojas-Arias, J S; Vinck-Posada, H; Rodríguez, B A

    2016-01-01

    Dipolaritons are quasiparticles that arise in coupled quantum wells embedded in a microcavity, they are a superposition of a photon, a direct exciton and an indirect exciton. We propose the existence of dipolaritons in a system of two coupled quantum dots inside a microcavity in direct analogy with the quantum well case and find that, despite some similarities, dipolaritons in quantum dots have different properties and can lead to true dark polariton states. We use a finite system theory to study the effects of the magnetic field on the system, including the emission, and find that it can be used as a control parameter of the properties of excitons and dipolaritons, and the overall magnetic behaviour of the structure. (paper)

  5. Quantum Dots: Proteomics characterization of the impact on biological systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pozzi-Mucelli, Stefano; Boschi, F.; Calderan, L.; Sbarbati, A.; Osculati, F.

    2009-05-01

    Over the past few years, Quantum Dots have been tested in most biotechnological applications that use fluorescence, including DNA array technology, immunofluorescence assays, cell and animal biology. Quantum Dots tend to be brighter than conventional dyes, because of the compounded effects of extinction coefficients that are an order of magnitude larger than those of most dyes. Their main advantage resides in their resistance to bleaching over long periods of time (minutes to hours), allowing the acquisition of images that are crisp and well contrasted. This increased photostability is especially useful for three-dimensional (3D) optical sectioning, where a major issue is bleaching of fluorophores during acquisition of successive z-sections, which compromises the correct reconstruction of 3D structures. The long-term stability and brightness of Quantum Dots make them ideal candidates also for live animal targeting and imaging. The vast majority of the papers published to date have shown no relevant effects on cells viability at the concentration used for imaging applications; higher concentrations, however, caused some issues on embryonic development. Adverse effects are due to be caused by the release of cadmium, as surface PEGylation of the Quantum Dots reduces these issues. A recently published paper shows evidences of an epigenetic effect of Quantum Dots treatment, with general histones hypoacetylation, and a translocation to the nucleus of p53. In this study, mice treated with Quantum Dots for imaging purposes were analyzed to investigate the impact on protein expression and networking. Differential mono-and bidimensional electrophoresis assays were performed, with the individuation of differentially expressed proteins after intravenous injection and imaging analysis; further, as several authors indicate an increase in reactive oxygen species as a possible mean of damage due to the Quantum Dots treatment, we investigated the signalling pathway of APE1/Ref1, a

  6. Quantum Dots: Proteomics characterization of the impact on biological systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pozzi-Mucelli, Stefano; Osculati, F; Boschi, F; Calderan, L; Sbarbati, A

    2009-01-01

    Over the past few years, Quantum Dots have been tested in most biotechnological applications that use fluorescence, including DNA array technology, immunofluorescence assays, cell and animal biology. Quantum Dots tend to be brighter than conventional dyes, because of the compounded effects of extinction coefficients that are an order of magnitude larger than those of most dyes. Their main advantage resides in their resistance to bleaching over long periods of time (minutes to hours), allowing the acquisition of images that are crisp and well contrasted. This increased photostability is especially useful for three-dimensional (3D) optical sectioning, where a major issue is bleaching of fluorophores during acquisition of successive z-sections, which compromises the correct reconstruction of 3D structures. The long-term stability and brightness of Quantum Dots make them ideal candidates also for live animal targeting and imaging. The vast majority of the papers published to date have shown no relevant effects on cells viability at the concentration used for imaging applications; higher concentrations, however, caused some issues on embryonic development. Adverse effects are due to be caused by the release of cadmium, as surface PEGylation of the Quantum Dots reduces these issues. A recently published paper shows evidences of an epigenetic effect of Quantum Dots treatment, with general histones hypoacetylation, and a translocation to the nucleus of p53. In this study, mice treated with Quantum Dots for imaging purposes were analyzed to investigate the impact on protein expression and networking. Differential mono-and bidimensional electrophoresis assays were performed, with the individuation of differentially expressed proteins after intravenous injection and imaging analysis; further, as several authors indicate an increase in reactive oxygen species as a possible mean of damage due to the Quantum Dots treatment, we investigated the signalling pathway of APE1/Ref1, a

  7. Resonant tunneling spectroscopy of valley eigenstates on a donor-quantum dot coupled system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kobayashi, T., E-mail: t.kobayashi@unsw.edu.au; Heijden, J. van der; House, M. G.; Hile, S. J.; Asshoff, P.; Simmons, M. Y.; Rogge, S. [Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052 New South Wales (Australia); Gonzalez-Zalba, M. F. [Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE (United Kingdom); Vinet, M. [Université Grenoble-Alpes and CEA, LETI, MINATEC, 38000 Grenoble (France)

    2016-04-11

    We report on electronic transport measurements through a silicon double quantum dot consisting of a donor and a quantum dot. Transport spectra show resonant tunneling peaks involving different valley states, which illustrate the valley splitting in a quantum dot on a Si/SiO{sub 2} interface. The detailed gate bias dependence of double dot transport allows a first direct observation of the valley splitting in the quantum dot, which is controllable between 160 and 240 μeV with an electric field dependence 1.2 ± 0.2 meV/(MV/m). A large valley splitting is an essential requirement for implementing a physical electron spin qubit in a silicon quantum dot.

  8. The synthesis of CdSe quantum dots with carboxyl group and study on their optical characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye, Chen; Park, Sangjoon; Kim, Jongsung

    2009-01-01

    Quantum dots are nanocrystal semiconductors which attract lots of research interests due to their peculiar optical properties. CdSe/ZnS quantum dots have been synthesized via pyrolysis of organometallic reagents. The color of the quantum dot changes from yellow-green to red as their size increases with reaction time. Photoluminescence quantum efficiency of CdSe quantum dots have been enhanced by passivating the surface of CdSe quantum dots with ZnS layers. Quantum dots are nanocrystal semiconductors which attract lots of research interests due to their peculiar optical properties. CdSe/ZnS quantum dots have been synthesized via pyrolysis of organometallic reagents. The color of the quantum dot changes from yellow-green to red as their size increases with reaction time. Photoluminescence quantum efficiency of CdSe quantum dots have been enhanced by passivating the surface of CdSe quantum dots with ZnS layers. (copyright 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

  9. Transmission electron microscopy study of vertical quantum dots molecules grown by droplet epitaxy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hernandez-Maldonado, D., E-mail: david.hernandez@uca.es [Departamento de Ciencia de los Materiales e I.M. y Q.I., Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Cadiz, Campus Rio San Pedro, s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cadiz (Spain); Herrera, M.; Sales, D.L. [Departamento de Ciencia de los Materiales e I.M. y Q.I., Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Cadiz, Campus Rio San Pedro, s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cadiz (Spain); Alonso-Gonzalez, P.; Gonzalez, Y.; Gonzalez, L. [Instituto de Microelectronica de Madrid (CNM-CSIC), Isaac Newton 8 (PTM), 28760 Tres Cantos, Madrid (Spain); Pizarro, J.; Galindo, P.L. [Departamento de Lenguajes y Sistemas Informaticos, CASEM, Universidad de Cadiz, Campus Rio San Pedro, s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cadiz (Spain); Molina, S.I. [Departamento de Ciencia de los Materiales e I.M. y Q.I., Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Cadiz, Campus Rio San Pedro, s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cadiz (Spain)

    2010-07-01

    The compositional distribution of InAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs capped InAs quantum dots has been studied in this work. Upper quantum dots are nucleated preferentially on top of the quantum dots underneath, which have been nucleated by droplet epitaxy. The growth process of these nanostructures, which are usually called as quantum dots molecules, has been explained. In order to understand this growth process, the analysis of the strain has been carried out from a 3D model of the nanostructure built from transmission electron microscopy images sensitive to the composition.

  10. Transmission electron microscopy study of vertical quantum dots molecules grown by droplet epitaxy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hernandez-Maldonado, D.; Herrera, M.; Sales, D.L.; Alonso-Gonzalez, P.; Gonzalez, Y.; Gonzalez, L.; Pizarro, J.; Galindo, P.L.; Molina, S.I.

    2010-01-01

    The compositional distribution of InAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs capped InAs quantum dots has been studied in this work. Upper quantum dots are nucleated preferentially on top of the quantum dots underneath, which have been nucleated by droplet epitaxy. The growth process of these nanostructures, which are usually called as quantum dots molecules, has been explained. In order to understand this growth process, the analysis of the strain has been carried out from a 3D model of the nanostructure built from transmission electron microscopy images sensitive to the composition.

  11. Slow Auger Relaxation in HgTe Colloidal Quantum Dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melnychuk, Christopher; Guyot-Sionnest, Philippe

    2018-05-03

    The biexciton lifetimes in HgTe colloidal quantum dots are measured as a function of particle size. Samples produced by two synthetic methods, leading to partially aggregated or well-dispersed particles, exhibit markedly different dynamics. The relaxation characteristics of partially aggregated HgTe inhibit reliable determinations of the Auger lifetime. In well-dispersed HgTe quantum dots, the biexciton lifetime increases approximately linearly with particle volume, confirming trends observed in other systems. The extracted Auger coefficient is three orders of magnitude smaller than that for bulk HgCdTe materials with similar energy gaps. We discuss these findings in the context of understanding Auger relaxation in quantum-confined systems and their relevance to mid-infrared optoelectronic devices based on HgTe colloidal quantum dots.

  12. Plasmon resonance-induced photoluminescence enhancement of CdTe/Cds quantum dots thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Hongyu [Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210003 (China); National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure and School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China); Xu, Ling, E-mail: xuling@nju.edu.cn [National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure and School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China); Wu, Yangqing; Xu, Jun; Ma, Zhongyuan; Chen, Kunji [National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure and School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)

    2016-11-30

    Highlights: • CdTe/CdS quantum dots/Au nano-rods nano-composite films were fabricated. • PL intensity of the quantum dots films was enhanced due to Au nanorods. • Internal quantum efficiency increased due to localized surface plasmon resonance. • The lifetimes of quantum dots films decreased after interaction with Au nano-rods. - Abstract: CdTe/CdS quantum dots/Au nano-rods nano-composite films were fabricated on planar Si substrates. The optical properties of all samples were investigated and the corresponding simulations were studied. It was found that the photoluminescence intensity of the CdTe/CdS quantum dots films was enhanced about 9-fold after the incorporation of Au nano-rods, the internal quantum efficiency increased from 24.3% to 35.2% due to the localized surface plasmon resonance. The time-resolved luminescence decay curves showed that the lifetimes of CdTe/CdS quantum dots films decreased to 2.8 ns after interaction with Au nano-rods. The results of finite-difference time-domain simulation indicated that Au nano-rods induced the localization of electric field, which enhanced the PL intensity of quantum dots films in the vicinity of Au nano-rods.

  13. Strain-tunable quantum dot devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rastelli, A.; Trotta, R.; Zallo, E.; Atkinson, P.; Magerl, E.; Ding, F.; Plumhof, J.D.; Kumar, S.; Doerr, K.; Schmidt, O.G.

    2011-01-01

    We introduce a new class of quantum dot-based devices, in which the semiconductor structures are integrated on top of piezoelectric actuators. This combination allows on one hand to study in detail the effects produced by variable strains (up to about 0.2%) on the excitonic emission of single quantum dots and on the other to manipulate their electronic- and optical properties to achieve specific requirements. In fact, by combining strain with electric fields we are able to obtain (i) independent control of emission energy and charge-state of a QD, (II) wavelength-tunable single-QD light-emitting diodes and (III) frequency-stabilized sources of single photons at predefined wavelengths. Possible future extensions and applications of this technology will be discussed.

  14. Biological interactions of quantum dot nanoparticles in skin and in human epidermal keratinocytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Leshuai W.; Yu, William W.; Colvin, Vicki L.; Monteiro-Riviere, Nancy A.

    2008-01-01

    Quantum dots nanoparticles have novel optical properties for biomedical applications and electronics, but little is known about their skin permeability and interaction with cells. QD621 are nail-shaped nanoparticles that contain a cadmium/selenide core with a cadmium sulfide shell coated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and are soluble in water. QD were topically applied to porcine skin flow-through diffusion cells to assess penetration at 1 μM, 2 μM and 10 μM for 24 h. QD were also studied in human epidermal keratinocytes (HEK) to determine cellular uptake, cytotoxicity and inflammatory potential. Confocal microscopy depicted the penetration of QD621 through the uppermost stratum corneum (SC) layers of the epidermis and fluorescence was found primarily in the SC and near hair follicles. QD were found in the intercellular lipid bilayers of the SC by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) analysis for cadmium (Cd) and fluorescence for QD both did not detect Cd nor fluorescence signal in the perfusate at any time point or concentration. In HEK, viability decreased significantly (p < 0.05) from 1.25 nM to 10nM after 24 h and 48 h. There was a significant increase in IL-6 at 1.25 nM to 10 nM, while IL-8 increased from 2.5nM to 10nM after 24 h and 48 h. TEM of HEK treated with 10 nM of QD621 at 24 h depicted QD in cytoplasmic vacuoles and at the periphery of the cell membranes. These results indicate that porcine skin penetration of QD621 is minimal and limited primarily to the outer SC layers, yet if the skin were damaged allowing direct QD exposure to skin or keratinocytes, an inflammatory response could be initiated

  15. Demonstration of quantum entanglement between a single electron spin confined to an InAs quantum dot and a photon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaibley, J R; Burgers, A P; McCracken, G A; Duan, L-M; Berman, P R; Steel, D G; Bracker, A S; Gammon, D; Sham, L J

    2013-04-19

    The electron spin state of a singly charged semiconductor quantum dot has been shown to form a suitable single qubit for quantum computing architectures with fast gate times. A key challenge in realizing a useful quantum dot quantum computing architecture lies in demonstrating the ability to scale the system to many qubits. In this Letter, we report an all optical experimental demonstration of quantum entanglement between a single electron spin confined to a single charged semiconductor quantum dot and the polarization state of a photon spontaneously emitted from the quantum dot's excited state. We obtain a lower bound on the fidelity of entanglement of 0.59±0.04, which is 84% of the maximum achievable given the timing resolution of available single photon detectors. In future applications, such as measurement-based spin-spin entanglement which does not require sub-nanosecond timing resolution, we estimate that this system would enable near ideal performance. The inferred (usable) entanglement generation rate is 3×10(3) s(-1). This spin-photon entanglement is the first step to a scalable quantum dot quantum computing architecture relying on photon (flying) qubits to mediate entanglement between distant nodes of a quantum dot network.

  16. Squeezing terahertz light into nanovolumes: Nanoantenna enhanced terahertz spectroscopy (NETS) of semiconductor quantum dots

    KAUST Repository

    Toma, Andrea

    2015-01-14

    Terahertz spectroscopy has vast potentialities in sensing a broad range of elementary excitations (e.g., collective vibrations of molecules, phonons, excitons, etc.). However, the large wavelength associated with terahertz radiation (about 300 μm at 1 THz) severely hinders its interaction with nano-objects, such as nanoparticles, nanorods, nanotubes, and large molecules of biological relevance, practically limiting terahertz studies to macroscopic ensembles of these compounds, in the form of thick pellets of crystallized molecules or highly concentrated solutions of nanomaterials. Here we show that chains of terahertz dipole nanoantennas spaced by nanogaps of 20 nm allow retrieving the spectroscopic signature of a monolayer of cadmium selenide quantum dots, a significant portion of the signal arising from the dots located within the antenna nanocavities. A Fano-like interference between the fundamental antenna mode and the phonon resonance of the quantum dots is observed, accompanied by an absorption enhancement factor greater than one million. NETS can find immediate applications in terahertz spectroscopic studies of nanocrystals and molecules at extremely low concentrations. Furthermore, it shows a practicable route toward the characterization of individual nano-objects at these frequencies.

  17. Circular polarization memory in single Quantum Dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khatsevich, S.; Poem, E.; Benny, Y.; Marderfeld, I.; Gershoni, D.; Badolato, A.; Petroff, P. M.

    2010-01-01

    Under quasi-resonant circularly polarized optical excitation, charged quantum dots may emit polarized light. We measured various transitions with either positive, negative or no circular-polarization memory. We explain these observations and quantitatively calculate the polarization spectrum. Our model use the full configuration-interaction method, including the electron-hole exchange interaction, for calculating the quantum dot's confined many-carrier states, along with one assumption regarding the spin relaxation of photoexcited carriers: Electrons maintain their initial spin polarization, while holes do not.

  18. Bilayer graphene quantum dot defined by topgates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Müller, André; Kaestner, Bernd; Hohls, Frank; Weimann, Thomas; Pierz, Klaus; Schumacher, Hans W., E-mail: hans.w.schumacher@ptb.de [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig (Germany)

    2014-06-21

    We investigate the application of nanoscale topgates on exfoliated bilayer graphene to define quantum dot devices. At temperatures below 500 mK, the conductance underneath the grounded gates is suppressed, which we attribute to nearest neighbour hopping and strain-induced piezoelectric fields. The gate-layout can thus be used to define resistive regions by tuning into the corresponding temperature range. We use this method to define a quantum dot structure in bilayer graphene showing Coulomb blockade oscillations consistent with the gate layout.

  19. CdZnTe quantum dots study: energy and phase relaxation process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Viale, Yannick

    2004-01-01

    We present a study of the electron-hole pair energy and phase relaxation processes in a CdTe/ZnTe heterostructure, in which quantum dots are embedded. CdZnTe quantum wells with a high Zinc concentration, separated by ZnTe barriers, contain islands with a high cadmium concentration. In photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy experiments, we evidence two types of electron hole pair relaxation processes. After being excited in the CdZnTe quantum well, the pairs relax their energy by emitting a cascade of longitudinal optical phonons until they are trapped in the quantum dots. Before their radiative recombination follows an intra-dot relaxation, which is attributed to a lattice polarization mechanism of the quantum dots. It is related to the coupling between the electronic and the vibrational states. Both relaxation mechanisms are reinforced by the strong polar character of the chemical bond in II-VI compounds. Time resolved measurements of transmission variations in a pump-probe configuration allowed us to investigate the population dynamics of the electron-hole pairs during the relaxation process. We observe a relaxation time of about 2 ps for the longitudinal phonon emission cascade in the quantum well before a saturation of the quantum dot transition. We also measured an intra-box relaxation time of 25 ps. The comparison of various cascades allows us to estimate the emission time of a longitudinal optical phonon in the quantum well to be about 100 fs. In four waves mixing experiments, we observe oscillations that we attribute to quantum beats between excitonic and bi-excitonic transitions. The dephasing times that we measure as function of the density of photons shows that excitons are strongly localized in the quantum dots. The excitonic dephasing time is much shorter than the radiative lifetime and is thus controlled by the intra-dot relaxation time. (author) [fr

  20. DNA nanosensor based on biocompatible graphene quantum dots and carbon nanotubes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qian, Zhao Sheng; Shan, Xiao Yue; Chai, Lu Jing; Ma, Juan Juan; Chen, Jian Rong; Feng, Hui

    2014-10-15

    An ultrasensitive nanosensor based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between biocompatible graphene quantum dots and carbon nanotubes for DNA detection was reported. We take advantage of good biocompatibility and strong fluorescence of graphene quantum dots, base pairing specificity of DNA and unique fluorescence resonance energy transfer between graphene quantum dots and carbon nanotubes to achieve the analysis of low concentrations of DNA. Graphene quantum dots with high quantum yield up to 0.20 were prepared and served as the fluorophore of DNA probe. FRET process between graphene quantum dots-labeled probe and oxidized carbon nanotubes is easily achieved due to their efficient self-assembly through specific π-π interaction. This nanosensor can distinguish complementary and mismatched nucleic acid sequences with high sensitivity and good reproducibility. The detection method based on this nanosensor possesses a broad linear span of up to 133.0 nM and ultralow detection limit of 0.4 nM. The constructed nanosensor is expected to be highly biocompatible because of all its components with excellent biocompatibility. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Transcending binary logic by gating three coupled quantum dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klein, Michael; Rogge, S; Remacle, F; Levine, R D

    2007-09-01

    Physical considerations supported by numerical solution of the quantum dynamics including electron repulsion show that three weakly coupled quantum dots can robustly execute a complete set of logic gates for computing using three valued inputs and outputs. Input is coded as gating (up, unchanged, or down) of the terminal dots. A nanosecond time scale switching of the gate voltage requires careful numerical propagation of the dynamics. Readout is the charge (0, 1, or 2 electrons) on the central dot.

  2. Designing artificial 2D crystals with site and size controlled quantum dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Xuejun; Kang, Jiahao; Cao, Wei; Chu, Jae Hwan; Gong, Yongji; Ajayan, Pulickel M; Banerjee, Kaustav

    2017-08-30

    Ordered arrays of quantum dots in two-dimensional (2D) materials would make promising optical materials, but their assembly could prove challenging. Here we demonstrate a scalable, site and size controlled fabrication of quantum dots in monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ), and quantum dot arrays with nanometer-scale spatial density by focused electron beam irradiation induced local 2H to 1T phase change in MoS 2 . By designing the quantum dots in a 2D superlattice, we show that new energy bands form where the new band gap can be controlled by the size and pitch of the quantum dots in the superlattice. The band gap can be tuned from 1.81 eV to 1.42 eV without loss of its photoluminescence performance, which provides new directions for fabricating lasers with designed wavelengths. Our work constitutes a photoresist-free, top-down method to create large-area quantum dot arrays with nanometer-scale spatial density that allow the quantum dots to interfere with each other and create artificial crystals. This technique opens up new pathways for fabricating light emitting devices with 2D materials at desired wavelengths. This demonstration can also enable the assembly of large scale quantum information systems and open up new avenues for the design of artificial 2D materials.

  3. Direct-Bandgap InAs Quantum-Dots Have Long-Range Electron--Hole Exchange Whereas Indirect Gap Si Dots Have Short-Range Exchange

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Juo, J.W.; Franceschetti, A.; Zunger, A.

    2009-01-01

    Excitons in quantum dots manifest a lower-energy spin-forbidden 'dark' state below a spin-allowed 'bright' state; this splitting originates from electron-hole (e-h) exchange interactions, which are strongly enhanced by quantum confinement. The e-h exchange interaction may have both a short-range and a long-range component. Calculating numerically the e-h exchange energies from atomistic pseudopotential wave functions, we show here that in direct-gap quantum dots (such as InAs) the e-h exchange interaction is dominated by the long-range component, whereas in indirect-gap quantum dots (such as Si) only the short-range component survives. As a result, the exciton dark/bright splitting scales as 1/R 2 in InAs dots and 1/R 3 in Si dots, where R is the quantum-dot radius.

  4. Coherent Dynamics of Quantum Dots in Photonic-Crystal Cavities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Kristian Høeg

    deviations. Similar measurements on a quantum dot in a photonic-crystal cavity sow a Rabi splitting on resonance, while time-resolved measurements prove that the system is in the weak coupling regime. Whle tuning the quantum dot through resonance of the high-Q mode we observe a strong and surprisingly...

  5. A novel enzyme-mimic nanosensor based on quantum dot-Au nanoparticle@silica mesoporous microsphere for the detection of glucose

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Yang; Ma, Qiang; Liu, Ziping [Department of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Qianjin Street 2699, Changchun 130012 (China); Wang, Xinyan [Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022 (China); Su, Xingguang, E-mail: suxg@jlu.edu.cn [Department of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Qianjin Street 2699, Changchun 130012 (China)

    2014-08-20

    Highlights: • Design QD-Au NP@silica mesoporous microspheres as a novel enzyme-mimic nanosensor. • Composition of two kinds of nanoparticle can be controlled through silica layers coating. • Our nanosensor for glucose detection has high sensitivity and selectivity. - Abstract: QD-Au NP@silica mesoporous microspheres have been fabricated as a novel enzyme-mimic nanosensor. CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were loaded into the core, and Au nanoparticles (NPs) were encapsulated in the outer mesoporous shell. QDs and Au NPs were separated in the different space of the nanosensor, which prevent the potential energy or electron transfer process between QDs and Au NPs. As biomimetic catalyst, Au NPs in the mesoporous silica shell can catalytically oxidize glucose as glucose oxidase (GOx)-mimicking. The resultant hydrogen peroxide can quench the photoluminescence (PL) signal of QDs in the microsphere core. Therefore the nanosensor based on the decrease of the PL intensity of QDs was established for the glucose detection. The linear range for glucose was in the range of 5–200 μM with a detection limit (3σ) of 1.32 μM.

  6. HaloTag protein-mediated specific labeling of living cells with quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    So, Min-kyung; Yao Hequan; Rao Jianghong

    2008-01-01

    Quantum dots emerge as an attractive alternative to small molecule fluorophores as fluorescent tags for in vivo cell labeling and imaging. This communication presents a method for specific labeling of live cells using quantum dots. The labeling is mediated by HaloTag protein expressed at the cell surface which forms a stable covalent adduct with its ligand (HaloTag ligand). The labeling can be performed in one single step with quantum dot conjugates that are functionalized with HaloTag ligand, or in two steps with biotinylated HaloTag ligand first and followed by streptavidin coated quantum dots. Live cell fluorescence imaging indicates that the labeling is specific and takes place at the cell surface. This HaloTag protein-mediated cell labeling method should facilitate the application of quantum dots for live cell imaging

  7. A non-genetic approach to labelling acute myeloid leukemia and bone marrow cells with quantum dots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Yanwen; Tan, Dongming; Chen, Zheng; Hu, Chenxi; Mao, Zhengwei J; Singleton, Timothy P; Zeng, Yan; Shao, Xuejun; Yin, Bin

    2014-06-01

    The difficulty in manipulation of leukemia cells has long hindered the dissection of leukemia pathogenesis. We have introduced a non-genetic approach of marking blood cells, using quantum dots. We compared quantum dots complexed with different vehicles, including a peptide Tat, cationic polymer Turbofect and liposome. Quantum dots-Tat showed the highest efficiency of marking hematopoietic cells among the three vehicles. Quantum dots-Tat could also label a panel of leukemia cell lines at varied efficiencies. More uniform intracellular distributions of quantum dots in mouse bone marrow and leukemia cells were obtained with quantum dots-Tat, compared with the granule-like formation obtained with quantum dots-liposome. Our results suggest that quantum dots have provided a photostable and non-genetic approach that labels normal and malignant hematopoietic cells, in a cell type-, vehicle-, and quantum dot concentration-dependent manner. We expect for potential applications of quantum dots as an easy and fast marking tool assisting investigations of various types of blood cells in the future.

  8. Reducing pure dephasing of quantum bits by collective encoding in quantum dot arrays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grodecka, A; Machnikowski, P; Jacak, L

    2006-01-01

    We show that phonon-induced pure dephasing of an excitonic (charge) quantum bit in a quantum dot (QD) may be reduced by collective encoding of logical qubits in QD arrays. We define the logical qubit on an array of 2, 4 and 8 QDs, connecting the logical 0) state with the presence of excitons in the appropriately chosen half of dots and the logical 1) state with the other half of the dots occupied. We give quantitative estimates of the resulting total error of a single qubit operation for an InAs/GaAs system

  9. Annealing Effect on Photovoltaic Performance of CdSe Quantum-Dots-Sensitized TiO2 Nanorod Solar Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yitan Li

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Large area rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays were grown on F:SnO2 (FTO conductive glass using a hydrothermal method at low temperature. CdSe quantum dots (QDs were deposited onto single-crystalline TiO2 nanorod arrays by a chemical bath deposition (CBD method to make a photoelectrode. The solar cell was assembled using a CdSe-TiO2 nanostructure as the photoanode and polysulfide solution as the electrolyte. The annealing effect on optical and photovoltaic properties of CdSe quantum-dots-sensitized TiO2 nanorod solar cells was studied systematically. A significant change of the morphology and a regular red shift of band gap of CdSe nanoparticles were observed after annealing treatment. At the same time, an improved photovoltaic performance was obtained for quantum-dots-sensitized solar cell using the annealed CdSe-TiO2 nanostructure electrode. The power conversion efficiency improved from 0.59% to 1.45% as a consequence of the annealing effect. This improvement can be explained by considering the changes in the morphology, the crystalline quality, and the optical properties caused by annealing treatment.

  10. Single-charge tunneling in ambipolar silicon quantum dots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Müller, Filipp

    2015-01-01

    Spin qubits in coupled quantum dots (QDs) are promising for future quantum information processing (QIP). A quantum bit (qubit) is the quantum mechanical analogon of a classical bit. In general, each quantum mechanical two-level system can represent a qubit. For the spin of a single charge carrier

  11. Dynamic localization in quantum dots: Analytical theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Basko, D.M.; Skvortsov, M.A.; Kravtsov, V.E.

    2003-02-01

    We analyze the response of a complex quantum-mechanical system (e.g., a quantum dot) to a time-dependent perturbation φ(t). Assuming the dot to be described by random matrix theory for GOE we find the quantum correction to the energy absorption rate as a function of the dephasing time t φ . If φ(t) is a sum of d harmonics with incommensurate frequencies, the correction behaves similarly to that to the conductivity δσ d (t φ ) in the d-dimensional Anderson model of the orthogonal symmetry class. For a generic periodic perturbation the leading quantum correction is absent as in the systems of the unitary symmetry class, unless φ(-t+τ)=φ(t+τ) for some τ, which falls into the quasi-1d orthogonal universality class. (author)

  12. Transient Evolutional Dynamics of Quantum-Dot Molecular Phase Coherence for Sensitive Optical Switching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Jian Qi; Gu, Jing

    2018-04-01

    Atomic phase coherence (quantum interference) in a multilevel atomic gas exhibits a number of interesting phenomena. Such an atomic quantum coherence effect can be generalized to a quantum-dot molecular dielectric. Two quantum dots form a quantum-dot molecule, which can be described by a three-level Λ-configuration model { |0> ,|1> ,|2> } , i.e., the ground state of the molecule is the lower level |0> and the highly degenerate electronic states in the two quantum dots are the two upper levels |1> ,|2> . The electromagnetic characteristics due to the |0>-|1> transition can be controllably manipulated by a tunable gate voltage (control field) that drives the |2>-|1> transition. When the gate voltage is switched on, the quantum-dot molecular state can evolve from one steady state (i.e., |0>-|1> two-level dressed state) to another steady state (i.e., three-level coherent-population-trapping state). In this process, the electromagnetic characteristics of a quantum-dot molecular dielectric, which is modified by the gate voltage, will also evolve. In this study, the transient evolutional behavior of the susceptibility of a quantum-dot molecular thin film and its reflection spectrum are treated by using the density matrix formulation of the multilevel systems. The present field-tunable and frequency-sensitive electromagnetic characteristics of a quantum-dot molecular thin film, which are sensitive to the applied gate voltage, can be utilized to design optical switching devices.

  13. Ligand-assisted fabrication, structure, and luminescence properties of Fe:ZnSe quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie, Ruishi; Zhang, Xingquan; Liu, Haifeng

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A green route is developed for synthesis of water-soluble and fluorescent Fe:ZnSe quantum dots. • Tunable luminescence intensity can be realized with different ligand-to-Zn molar ratios. • The obtained quantum dots are in the so-called “quantum confinement regime”. -- Abstract: Here, we report a synthetic route for highly emissive Fe:ZnSe quantum dots in aqueous media using the mercaptoacetic acid ligand as stabilizing agent. The structural, morphological, componential, and optical properties of the resulting quantum dots were explored by the X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence and UV–visible absorption spectroscopies. The average crystallite size was calculated to be about ca., 4.0 nm using the Scherrer equation, which correlates well with the value obtained from the transmission electron microscopy analysis. The obtained water-soluble Fe:ZnSe quantum dots in the so-called “quantum confinement regime” are spherical shaped, possess the cubic sphalerite crystal structure, and exhibit tunable luminescence properties. The presence of mercaptoacetic acid on the surface of Fe:ZnSe quantum dots was confirmed by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements. As the ligand/Zn molar ratio increases from 1.3 to 2.8, there is little shift in the absorption peak of the Fe:ZnSe sample, indicating that the particle size of the obtained quantum dots is not changed during the synthetic process. The photoluminescence quantum yield of the as-prepared water-soluble Fe:ZnSe quantum dots can be up to 39%. The molar ratio of ligand-to-Zn plays a crucial role in determining the final luminescence properties of the resulting quantum dots, and the maximum PL intensity appears as the ligand-to-Zn molar ratio is 2.2. In addition, the underlying mechanism for

  14. Ligand-assisted fabrication, structure, and luminescence properties of Fe:ZnSe quantum dots

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xie, Ruishi, E-mail: rxie@foxmail.com; Zhang, Xingquan; Liu, Haifeng

    2014-03-15

    Highlights: • A green route is developed for synthesis of water-soluble and fluorescent Fe:ZnSe quantum dots. • Tunable luminescence intensity can be realized with different ligand-to-Zn molar ratios. • The obtained quantum dots are in the so-called “quantum confinement regime”. -- Abstract: Here, we report a synthetic route for highly emissive Fe:ZnSe quantum dots in aqueous media using the mercaptoacetic acid ligand as stabilizing agent. The structural, morphological, componential, and optical properties of the resulting quantum dots were explored by the X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence and UV–visible absorption spectroscopies. The average crystallite size was calculated to be about ca., 4.0 nm using the Scherrer equation, which correlates well with the value obtained from the transmission electron microscopy analysis. The obtained water-soluble Fe:ZnSe quantum dots in the so-called “quantum confinement regime” are spherical shaped, possess the cubic sphalerite crystal structure, and exhibit tunable luminescence properties. The presence of mercaptoacetic acid on the surface of Fe:ZnSe quantum dots was confirmed by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements. As the ligand/Zn molar ratio increases from 1.3 to 2.8, there is little shift in the absorption peak of the Fe:ZnSe sample, indicating that the particle size of the obtained quantum dots is not changed during the synthetic process. The photoluminescence quantum yield of the as-prepared water-soluble Fe:ZnSe quantum dots can be up to 39%. The molar ratio of ligand-to-Zn plays a crucial role in determining the final luminescence properties of the resulting quantum dots, and the maximum PL intensity appears as the ligand-to-Zn molar ratio is 2.2. In addition, the underlying mechanism for

  15. Fluorescent determination of poly(hexamethylene guanidine) via the aggregates it forms with quantum dots and magnetic nanoparticles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Likhachev, Konstantin V.; Beklemishev, Mikhail K.; Ovcharenko, Elena O.; Dityuk, Alexander I.; Efimov, Konstantin M.; Abramchuk, Sergei S.

    2016-01-01

    The authors report that the cationic polymer-oligomer poly(hexamethylene guanidine) (PHMG) in the form of its hydrochloride induces the formation of mixed aggregates composed of anionic magnetic nanoparticles (magNPs), PHMG and anionic quantum dots (QDs). The magNPs consisted of polymer-coated magnetite nanoparticles, and the QDs consisted of polymer-coated CdSe-CdS/ZnS nanoparticles with an emission maximum at 617 nm. This finding is exploited in a semi-quantitative method for the determination of PHMG. The protocol includes magnetic separation of the mixed aggregates (magNPs/PHMG/QDs) from the sample and excess QDs, redispersion of the aggregates in water, and measurement of fluorescence intensity. The signal is proportional to the concentration of PHMG in the 0.05 to 0.2 mg L"−"1 concentration range, with intra-day RSDs of up to 27 %. The limit of detection (LOD) of PHMG in spiked run-off waters, swimming pool water and wastewater is 23 μg L"−"1. This PHMG assay is selective in that high concentrations of surfactants and inorganic salts are tolerated. Polyethyleneimine and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) also cause the formation of mixed aggregates but only at higher concentrations. Both a fluorometer and a digital camera (using a 365-nm LED as a light source) were used to measure fluorescence. In case of using a digital camera, the LOD is 40 μg L"−"1 and the intraday RSDs are up to 23 %. The method is sensitive, fairly selective and rather simple. (author)

  16. Controlling the exciton energy of a nanowire quantum dot by strain fields

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Yan; Zhang, Jiaxiang; Ding, Fei, E-mail: f.ding@ifw-dresden.de [Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, IFW Dresden, Helmholtz Strasse 20, 01069 Dresden (Germany); Zadeh, Iman Esmaeil; Jöns, Klaus D.; Fognini, Andreas; Zwiller, Val [Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, 2600 GA Delft (Netherlands); Reimer, Michael E. [Institute for Quantum Computing and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, N2L 3G1 (Canada); Dalacu, Dan; Poole, Philip J. [National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6 (Canada); Schmidt, Oliver G. [Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, IFW Dresden, Helmholtz Strasse 20, 01069 Dresden (Germany); Material Systems for Nanoelectronics, Chemnitz University of Technology, Reichenhainer Strasse 70, 09107 Chemnitz (Germany)

    2016-05-02

    We present an experimental route to engineer the exciton energies of single quantum dots in nanowires. By integrating the nanowires onto a piezoelectric crystal, we controllably apply strain fields to the nanowire quantum dots. Consequently, the exciton energy of a single quantum dot in the nanowire is shifted by several meVs without degrading its optical intensity and single-photon purity. Second-order autocorrelation measurements are performed at different strain fields on the same nanowire quantum dot. The suppressed multi-photon events at zero time delay clearly verify that the quantum nature of single-photon emission is well preserved under external strain fields. The work presented here could facilitate on-chip optical quantum information processing with the nanowire based single photon emitters.

  17. Electron Spins in Semiconductor Quantum Dots

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hanson, R.

    2005-01-01

    This thesis describes a series of experiments aimed at understanding and controlling the behavior of the spin degree of freedom of single electrons, confined in semiconductor quantum dots. This research work is motivated by the prospects of using the electron spin as a quantum bit (qubit), the basic

  18. Four-wave mixing in InAlGaAs quantum dots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leosson, Kristjan; Birkedal, Dan; Hvam, Jørn Märcher

    2001-01-01

    broadening strongly reduce the interaction with the electromagnetic field. Until now, four-wave mixing (FWM) in III-V quantum dots has only been reported in optical amplifiers at room temperature, where the interaction length is increased by waveguiding in the quantum dot plane. We have carried out...... degenerate FWM experiments in a slab geometry on a sample containing 10 layers of MBE-grown In0.5Al0.04Ga0.46As quantum dots (QDs) with 50-nm Al0.08Ga0.92As barriers. Ground state photoluminescence emission was measured....

  19. Quantum interference and control of the optical response in quantum dot molecules

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Borges, H. S.; Sanz, L.; Villas-Boas, J. M.; Alcalde, A. M. [Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, 38400-902 Uberlândia-MG (Brazil)

    2013-11-25

    We discuss the optical response of a quantum molecule under the action of two lasers fields. Using a realistic model and parameters, we map the physical conditions to find three different phenomena reported in the literature: the tunneling induced transparency, the formation of Autler-Townes doublets, and the creation of a Mollow-like triplet. We found that the electron tunneling between quantum dots is responsible for the different optical regime. Our results not only explain the experimental results in the literature but also give insights for future experiments and applications in optics using quantum dots molecules.

  20. Inorganic passivation and doping control in colloidal quantum dot photovoltaics

    KAUST Repository

    Hoogland, Sjoerd H.; Ip, Alex; Thon, Susanna; Voznyy, Oleksandr; Tang, Jiang; Liu, Huan; Zhitomirsky, David; Debnath, Ratan K.; Levina, Larissa; Rollny, Lisa R.; Fischer, Armin H.; Kemp, Kyle W.; Kramer, Illan J.; Ning, Zhijun; Labelle, André J.; Chou, Kang Wei; Amassian, Aram; Sargent, E. H.

    2012-01-01

    We discuss strategies to reduce midgap trap state densities in colloidal quantum dot films and requirements to control doping type and magnitude. We demonstrate that these improvements result in colloidal quantum dot solar cells with certified 7.0% efficiency.