Manipulating the Charging Energy of Nanocrystal Arrays

Abstract

There is increasing research interest in assemblies of chemically synthesized nanocrystal quantum dots since the self-assembly capabilities of this class of materials offer the promise of "artificial atom" solids with unique optical, electronic, and magnetic properties. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] From a scientific viewpoint, these systems may serve as models for understanding fundamental solid-state physical phenomena at reduced energy scales (and increased length scales) compared to conventional solids. For example, effects that result from tuning of the inter-nanocrystal separation include demonstrations of insulator-to-metal transitions in compressed two-dimensional (2D) Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers of silver nanocrystals at room temperature. [14] Manipulation of inter-nanocrystal coupling from insulating to metallic states has also been

To Be or not to Be: Band-Like Transport in Quantum Dot Solids

“…with the average number of nearest neighbors [23]. For hexagonally close-packed QDs, the bandwidth is simply obtained as [34] = 16 .…”

Metal nanoparticle field-effect transistor

“…For example, a decrease of the distance between adjacent nanocrystals increases the coupling between them and yields in a decrease of the Coulomb charging energy of the individual conductive islands. Eventually, this leads to a transition from insulating to metallic behavior (Mott-Hubbard transition) [19][20][21]. Researchers have observed that in such films charging effects occur attributed to Coulomb blockade [22][23][24].…”

Charge‐Transport Behavior in Shape‐Controlled Poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) Nanomaterials: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors

“…In addition, superlattices consisting of metal–semiconductor nanocrystals have shown unique physical properties owing to dipole–dipole interactions, which are distinct from those of the isolated nanocrystals 3. 4 In the case of organic materials, it has been demonstrated that the thickness of thin polymer films considerably affects their physical properties, such as glass‐transition temperature, melting temperature, orientation, and crystallinity 5–7. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the study of the characteristics derived from the difference in size or shape of polymer nanomaterials, in contrast to metal and semiconductor nanocrystals.…”