Luminescence of II-VI Semiconductor Nanoparticles

Abstract

Nanoparticle or an ultrafine particle is a small solid whose physical dimension lies between 1 to 100 nanometers. Nanotechnology is the coming revolution in molecular engineering, and therefore, it is curiosity-driven and promising area of technology. The field of nanoscience and nanotechnology is interdisciplinary in nature and being studied by physicists, chemists, material scientists, biologists, engineers, computer scientists, etc. Research in the field of nanoparticles has been triggered by the recent availability of revolutionary instruments and approaches that allow the investigation of material properties with a resolution close to the atomic level. Strongly connected to such technological advances are the pioneering studies that have revealed new physical properties of matter at a level intermediate between atomic/molecular and bulk. Quantum confinement effect modifies the electronic structure of nanoparticles when their sizes become comparable to that of their Bohr excitonic radius. When the particle radius falls below the excitonic Bohr radius, the band gap energy is widened, leading to a blue shift in the band gap emission spectra, etc. On the other hand, the surface states play a more important role in the nanoparticles, due to their large surface-to-volume ratio with a decrease in particle size (surface effects). From the last few years, nanoparticles have been a common material for the development of new cutting-edge applications in communications, energy storage, sensing, data storage, optics, transmission, environmental protection, cosmetics, biology, and medicine due to their important optical, electrical, and magnetic properties.