In this research paper, fabrication of novel CdSe\ZnS QD-LEDs with solution processing method is presented and the impact of trap energy levels in the electron and hole transport levels on these QD-LEDs brightness is investigated. Two types of QD-LEDs are fabricated with ITO as the transparent anode electrode, NiO nanoparticles as the hole transport layer (HTL), CdSe\ZnS QDs as the luminescent layer, ZnO: Ga as the electron transport layer (ETL), and Al as the cathode electrode. The NiO nanoparticles are synthesized by solgel or alternatively electrochemical method. Formation of different trap levels is observed in the crystal structures of the NiO nanoparticles synthesized by each of these methods.
Considering the electrochemically prepared NiO nanoparticles, it is found that the density of trap levels is higher in the crystal structure of the NiO nanoparticles synthesized by sol-gel method and the device fabricated by the later material shows higher performance. Calculation of the electronic structure of ZnO: Ga by DFT methods (GGA-PBE) indicates that doping of Ga in the structure of crystalline ZnO creates new energy levels in conduction band and intermediate bands at the band gap of ZnO host. It facilitates electron injection from Al cathode to the ZnO:Ga ETL layer and from this layer to the QD luminescent layer. The fabricated devices show turn-on lower voltages than 5V in which a peak brightness of 500cdm -2 and 340cd m -2 is measured for the LEDs fabricated with sol-gel and electrochemically synthesized NiO nanoparticles respectively.Index Terms-Light emitting diode, Quantum dot, NiO, ZnO: Ga, Photo luminescence 1536-125X (c)