Linear and nonlinear photophysical properties
of ZnSe/CdS/ZnS core/shell/shell type II
nanocrystals
YANG GAO,
1
XIN QIU,
1
FULI ZHAO,
2,3
SHUYU XIAO,
1
JUNZI LI,
1
XIAODONG LIN,
1
RUI CHEN,
2,4
AND TINGCHAO HE
1,5
1
College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
2
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
3
College of Arts and Science, Shanghai Dianji University, Shanghai 201306, China
4
e-mail: chenr@sustech.edu.cn
5
e-mail: tche@szu.edu.cn
Received 2 January 2020; revised 10 June 2020; accepted 26 June 2020; posted 30 June 2020 (Doc. ID 387099); published 6 August 2020
In this work, one kind of type II ZnSe/CdS/ZnS core/shell/shell nanocrystals (NCs) is synthesized, and their
linear and nonlinear photophysical properties are investigated. Through measurements of the temperature-
dependent photoluminescence spectra of NCs, their excitonic properties, including the coefficient of the bandgap
change, coupling strength of the exciton acoustic phonons , exciton longitudinal optical (LO) phonons, and
LO–phonon energy are revealed. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy was employed to obtain insight
into ultrafast processes occurring at the interface of ZnSe and CdS, such as those involving the injection of photo-
induced electrons into the CdS shell, interfacial state bleaching, and charge separation time. At the end, their
multiphoton absorption spectra were determined by using the z-scan technique, which yielded a maximum two-
photon absorption cross section of 3717 GM at 820 nm and three-photon absorption cross section
up to 3.9 × 10
−77
cm
6
· s
2
· photon
−2
at 1220 nm, respectively. The photophysical properties presented
here may be important for exploiting their relevant applications in optoelectronic devices and deep-tissue
bioimaging.
© 2020 Chinese Laser Press
https://doi.org/10.1364/PRJ.387099
1. INTRODUCTION
Due to their unique optical and optoelectronic properties,
semiconductor colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) have very broad
application prospects, such as in new solar photovoltaic devices,
light-emitting diodes, biological imaging instruments, photo-
detectors, and nanolasers [1]. Unfortunately, the semiconduc-
tor NCs with simple structures usually have many surface
defects and serious Auger recombination effects, which will
hinder their applications in the fields of optoelectronic devices
and biological science.
Up to now, various methods have been proposed to optimize
the photophysical properties of semiconductor NCs, among
which the most important methods include organic ligand sur-
face modification and shell epitaxial growth. The first method
involves passivating surface dangling bonds of NCs with
organic ligands [2]. The second method involves epitaxially
growing one or multiple shells with a large bandgap outside
the core NCs to form a core–shell structure heterojunction,
which thus eliminates the surface dangling bonds and effec-
tively reduces the nonradiative recom bination caused by surface
defects [3]. Compared with the first method, the core–shell
heterojunction obtained by the second method shows better
compatibility and photothermal stability.
According to the energy values of conduction and valence
bands, the core–shell heterojunction can be divided into types I
and II [4]. In the type I heterojunction, the electrons and holes
are trapped inside the core NCs; in the type II heterojunction,
the holes and electrons are confined to the core or shell, respec-
tively. Spatial separation of carriers can greatly reduce the effi-
ciency of Auger recombination [4]. In addition, the type II
NCs can emit photoluminescence (PL) with a large Stokes shift
and long lifetime, which is advantageous to the application of
fluorescence imaging [5– 8]. While much progress has been
made in understanding the electronic transitions and carrier
dynamics of ZnSe/CdS dot-in-rod heterostructures [9],
(ZnSe/CdS)/CdS nanorods (NRs) [10], ZnSe/CdS/ZnSe nano-
barbells [11], and ZnSe/CdS/Pt NRs [12], the relevant carrier
dynamics of ZnSe core epitaxially grown with multiple spheri-
cal shells that may be promising for further improvement
of their optoelectronic properties has not yet been elucidated.
1416
Vol. 8, No. 9 / September 2020 / Photo nics Research
Research Article
2327-9125/20/091416-06 Journal © 2020 Chinese Laser Press