Plentiful research of InP semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) has been launched over the past few decades for their excellent photoluminescence properties and environmentally friendly characteristics in various applications. However, InP QDs show inferior photostability because they are extremely sensitive to the ambient environment. In this study, we propose a novel method to enhance the photostability of InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs by doping zirconium into the ZnS layer. We certify that Zr can be oxidized to Zr oxides, which can prevent the QDs from suffering oxidation during light irradiation. The InP/ZnSe/ZnS:Zr QDs maintained 78% of the original photoluminescence quantum yields without significant photodegradation under the irradiation of LED light (450 nm, 3.0 W power intensity) for 14 h, while conventional InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs dramatically decreased to 29%.
Keywords: InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs; Zr doping; photostability.