Colloidal synthesis techniques can be used to obtain atomic-scale control over the size, shape and even complex internal structure of multi-component semiconducting nanocrystals. It is becoming increasingly clear that this level of control is required for the establishment and optimization of a range of important photophysical properties. A specific example from our group is the ability to eliminate fluorescence intermittency (blinking), photobleaching, nonradiative recombination channels and self-reabsorption in nanocrystal quantum dots (QDs) by precise “nanoengineering” of core/shell structure in the form of “giant” core/thick-shell QDs (gQDs). For most effective targeting of further advanced or new properties, we currently endeavor to establish explicit structure-function correlations via experiment and theory. The ability to understand these nanoscale structures from the inside out is proving critical toward the ultimate goal of a truly predictive design capability, where the precise structure necessary for a desired property can be both envisioned and rationally targeted synthetically. We have shown that by directly correlating optical properties at the level of single nanocrystals with nanoscale structure for the same QD, as well as correlating unprecedented insights into the internal QD structure with synthetic parameter space, it is possible to begin to address these two aspects of modern nanoscience – the need to define structure-function relationships and the ability to experimentally realize designed optimal structures.

There's even room to expand at the bottom: A story of "giant" nanocrystals

255th National Meeting (2018)

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