Gallium Sulfide Quantum Dots with Zinc Sulfide and Alumina Shells Showing Efficient Deep Blue Emission

Abstract

Solution-processed quantum dot (QD) based blue emitters are of paramount importance in the field of optoelectronics. Despite large research efforts, examples of efficient deep blue/near UV-emitting QDs remain rare due to lack of luminescent wide band gap materials and high defect densities in the existing ones. Here, we introduce a novel type of QDs based on heavy metal free gallium sulfide (Ga₂ S₃ ) and their core/shell heterostructures Ga₂ S₃ /ZnS as well as Ga₂ S₃ /ZnS/Al₂ O₃ . The photoluminescence (PL) properties of core Ga₂ S₃ QDs exhibit various decay pathways due to intrinsic defects, resulting in a broad overall PL spectrum. We show that the overgrowth of the Ga₂ S₃ core QDs with a ZnS shell results in the suppression of the intrinsic defect-mediated states leading to efficient deep-blue emission at 400 nm. Passivation of the core/shell structure with amorphous alumina yields a further enhancement of the PL quantum yield approaching 50 % and leads to an excellent optical and colloidal stability. Finally, we develop a strategy for the aqueous phase transfer of the obtained QDs retaining 80 % of the initial fluorescence intensity.