Changes in optical properties of CdS nanoclusters in langmuir-blodgett films on passivation in ammonia

Abstract

The optical properties of CdS nanoclusters are studied for samples in which the nanoclusters are embedded in the Langmuir-Blodgett film matrix or the matrix is removed by annealing in vacuum or ammonia atmosphere. After annealing the samples in vacuum or ammonia, the bands of emission from the nanoclusters and from the surface states appear in the photoluminescence spectrum, with the peaks at 2.9 or 2.7 eV and at 1.9 or 2.1 eV, respectively. It is found that, after treating the samples with ammonia, the photoluminescence of the nanoclusters becomes more intense, whereas the photoluminescence corresponding to recombination via the levels of the surface states becomes less intense. It is established that the increase in the photoluminescence intensity for the nanoclusters and the difference between the temperature dependence of the photoluminescence peak position and the temperature dependence of the band gap of bulk CdS are due to passivation of surface states in the nanoclusters. The experimental data are interpreted in the model of recombination of nonequilibrium charge carriers in the CdS nanoclusters, taking into account the exchange of charge carriers between the nanocrystals and trapping centers at their surface and the recombination of charge carriers via the levels of the surface states.