Semiconductor alloy nanocrystals (NCs) made from Group IV elements display many advantages over CdSe NCs or organic molecular fluorophores. For example, Ge1-xSnx alloy NCs demonstrate composition dependent near-IR to low visible energy gap tunability, as well as low toxicity and silicon compatibility. Advantages like these, along with high abundance and potential for low-cost solution processability, make Group IV alloy NCs an ideal candidate for applications in optoelectronic, sensing, and bioimaging technologies. These advances have inspired the development of Ge1-y-xSiySnx alloy NCs, which carry over many of the advantages of Ge1-xSnx NCs, while also offering additional tunability of optical properties further into the visible spectrum. Here, we present preliminary results on the synthesis and physical characterization of Ge1-y-xSiySnx NCs using powder X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy to examine the alloying effects on crystal structure, as well as Transmission Electron Microscopy and elemental mapping to verify the particle morphology and alloy composition. We use these techniques to examine the differences between bulk-like ≥ 12.0 nm NCs and quantum confined ≤ 4.0 nm NCs. Additionally, it is shown that key (photo)physical properties such as energy gap size and photoluminescence peak position can be tuned by slightly altering synthetic parameters to modify the elemental composition of the particles, creating versatile properties for compatibility with a wide range of optoelectronic technologies.

Synthesis and characterization of colloidal Ge-Si-Sn alloy nanocrystals with composition-tunable visible to near-IR photoluminescence

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