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Type: 
Journal
Description: 
Photoluminescence (PL) spectra were measured for dodecene-capped Si nanocrystals with a wide range of average diameters, from 1.8 to 9.1 nm. Nanocrystals larger than 3 nm exhibited relatively high PL quantum yields of 30%–45%. Smaller nanocrystals exhibited lower quantum yields that decreased significantly with reduced size. Because smaller nanocrystals also have lower optical absorption there is a significant biasing of the PL spectra by the larger nanocrystals. We show that with proper accounting of polydispersity and size-dependent quantum yields and optical absorption the effective mass approximation (EMA) accurately estimates the average diameter of silicon (Si) nanocrystals from experimentally determined PL emission peak energies. A finite confinement model is presented that explains the decreased PL quantum yields of the smaller diameter nanocrystals.
Publisher: 
American Chemical Society
Publication date: 
19 Oct 2017
Authors: 

Yixuan Yu, Gang Fan, Andrea Fermi, Raffaello Mazzaro, Vittorio Morandi, Paola Ceroni, Detlef-M Smilgies, Brian A Korgel

Biblio References: 
Volume: 121 Issue: 41 Pages: 23240-23248
Origin: 
The Journal of Physical Chemistry C