Putting nanocrystals to work: from solutions to devices

The colloidal route to semiconductor nanocrystals is extremely flexible, with a high degree of control over size, size distribution, surface passivation and internal structure of the nanoparticles. Simple chemically controlled techniques can be used to assemble these particles into dense films or other microscopic structures, suitable for photonic devices. Working with semiconductors or semi-metals which in the bulk form have low or inverted bandgaps, and taking advantage of the blue shift in the quantum confinement regime, nanocrystals can readily be tuned to the infrared wavelengths of interest for telecommunications. Design flexibility is far greater than with conventional compound semiconductors or rare-earth-doped glasses. Preliminary results demonstrating optical gain from II-VI nanocrystal films at room temperature are reported.