Quantum-dot/organic semiconductor composites for radiation detection

A new class of radiation-detection materials, composites of inorganic semiconductor quantum dots and organic semiconductors, that possess the cost and processing advantages of organic scintillators, was described. The composite detector materials were fabricated from CdSe-ZnSe core-shell qdots surface-passivated with hexadecylamine (HDA). The nanoscale mixture of organic and inorganic components should allow the energy from proton recoils off the organic matrix converted to charge by the inorganic semiconductor qdots. The results show that composite materials have processing characteristics similar to organic molecules and polymers and are promising for low-cost, large-area/volume applications.