Synthesis of small Ag–Sb–Te nanocrystals with composition control

Abstract

Ternary telluride nanocrystals have gained increasing interest as materials for thermoelectric, optoelectronic, and phase-change memory applications. Synthetic approaches for colloidal multicomponent tellurides however remain sparse. Here, we report a convenient, amide-promoted synthesis for Ag–Sb–Te nanocrystals with small sizes and narrow size distributions (e.g., nanocrystal diameters of 3.5 ± 0.8 nm). We focus on achieving composition control for Ag–Sb–Te nanocrystals by adjusting the ratio of cationic precursors and find a broad solid solution range for Ag_xSb_1−xTe_1.5−x nanocrystals (x is from 0.3 and 0.6), which extends beyond that measured in Ag–Sb–Te thin films. The ability to produce size- and composition-controlled Ag–Sb–Te nanocrystals is a first step in achieving bottom-up assembled Ag–Sb–Te semiconductors for device applications.