Enhancing the photoluminescence of CdSe magic-sized clusters

As the field of semiconducting quantum dots (QDs) continues to mature, the dispersity of nanocrystal sizes present in a synthesized sample is still an obstacle. Because the properties of QDs are size dependent, it is crucial to produce monodisperse QD samples to understand structure-property relations. Magic-sized clusters (MSCs) circumvent the polydispersity seen in QDs, as growth is discrete and limited to only certain sized clusters. In spite of their promise, MSCs remain poorly studied. MSCs typically exhibit broad emission with low photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQY). This presentation will describe our efforts towards CdSe MSCs with sharp, high efficiency PLQY through the growth of a passivating shell.