Researchers have succeeded in chemically synthesizing cadmium selenide nanocrystals in a flask that are as perfect as materials grown at higher temperatures and in very controlled environments. They have also measured the exceptional photoluminescence efficiency of the materials using a new measurement technique called photothermal threshold quantum yield. The crystals could find use in advanced applications such as luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) and optical refrigerators.
“From the optical perspective, these materials are nearly perfect,” says Alberto Salleo of Stanford University, who co-led this research effort with Paul Alivisatos of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “The British theoretical physicist Sir Charles Frank famously stated that ‘crystals are like people, it’s the defects in them that make them interesting’. So, in this sense, these materials are ‘boring’ because they are so perfect, but they do, however, have unprecedented photoluminescence performance.”
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