Chemical synthesis and optical, structural, and surface characterization of InP-In2O3 quantum dots

D A Granada-Ramirez; J S Arias-Cerón; M Pérez-González; J P Luna-Arias; A Cruz-Orea; P Rodríguez-Fragoso; J L Herrera-Pérez; M L Gómez-Herrera; S A Tomás; F Vázquez-Hernández; A A Durán-Ledezma; J G Mendoza-Alvarez

doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2020.147294

Chemical synthesis and optical, structural, and surface characterization of InP-In₂O₃ quantum dots

Appl Surf Sci. 2020 Nov 15:530:147294. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2020.147294. Epub 2020 Jul 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Física, Cinvestav-IPN, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, C.P. 07360 Ciudad de México, Mexico.
² Cátedra CONACYT-Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Sección de Electrónica del Estado Sólido, Cinvestav-IPN, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, C.P. 07360 Ciudad de México, Mexico.
³ Área Académica de Matemáticas y Física, Instituto de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo Km. 4.5, Col. Carboneras, C.P. 42184, Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico.
⁴ Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria en Ingeniería y Tecnologías Avanzadas del I.P.N., Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, C.P. 07340 Ciudad de México, Mexico.
⁵ Departamento de Biología Celular, Cinvestav-IPN, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, C.P. 07360 Ciudad de México, Mexico.
⁶ Programa de Doctorado de Nanociencias y Nanotecnología, Cinvestav-IPN, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, C.P. 07360 Ciudad de México, Mexico.
⁷ Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Centro Universitario, Cerro de las Campanas S/N, C.P. 76010 Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico.
⁸ Universidad del Ejército y Fuerza Aérea, Escuela Militar de Ingenieros, Av. Industria Militar 261, Campo Militar No. 1-K, Lomas de San Isidro, Naucalpan, Edo. de México, Mexico.
⁹ Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, Av. La Corona 320, Col. Loma de la Palma, C.P. 07160 Ciudad de México, Mexico.
¹⁰ Escuela Superior de Cómputo, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Av. Juan de Dios Bátiz, esq. Av. Miguel Othón de Mendizábal, Col. Lindavista, Delegación Gustavo A. Madero, C.P. 07738 Ciudad de México, Mexico.

Abstract

InP-In₂O₃ colloidal quantum dots (QDs) synthesized by a single-step chemical method without injection of hot precursors (one-pot) were investigated. Specifically, the effect of the tris(trimethylsilyl)phosphine, P(TMS)₃, precursor concentration on the QDs properties was studied to effectively control the size and shape of the samples with a minimum size dispersion. The effect of the P(TMS)₃ precursor concentration on the optical, structural, chemical surface, and electronic properties of InP-In₂O₃ QDs is discussed. The absorption spectra of InP-In₂O₃ colloids, obtained by both UV-Vis spectrophotometry and photoacoustic spectroscopy, showed a red-shift in the high-energy regime as the concentration of the P(TMS)₃ increased. In addition, these results were used to determine the band-gap energy of the InP-In₂O₃ nanoparticles, which changed between 2.0 and 2.9 eV. This was confirmed by Photoluminescence spectroscopy, where a broad-band emission displayed from 2.0 to 2.9 eV is associated with the excitonic transition of the InP and In₂O₃ QDs. In₂O₃ and InP QDs with diameters ranging approximately from 8 to 10 nm and 6 to 9 nm were respectively found by HR-TEM. The formation of the InP and In₂O₃ phases was confirmed by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.

Keywords: In2O3; InP; Photoluminescence; Quantum dots; XPS; XRD.