Preparation and photophysics of strongly luminescing Cd3P2 quantum dots

The wet chemical preparation, the electron microscopic characterization, and the temperature-dependent absorption as well as both the static and time-resolved fluorescence properties of Cd3P2 quantum dots are presented. The particles are strongly size quantized as seen from the 1.5 eV blue shift of the first electronic transition compared to the bulk bandgap of 0.5 eV. The particles emit close to the onset of absorption, exhibiting a quantum yield of 0.25 at room temperature. The luminescence decay has a multiexponential appearance at room temperature which transforms into two clearly distinguishable decay channels at low temperatures.