Electronic structure study of dual-doped II–VI semiconductor quantum dots towards single-source white light emission

Abstract

Single-source white light emitting colloidal semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) is one of the most exciting and promising high-quality solid-state light sources to meet the current global demand for sustainable resources. While most of the previous methods involve dual (green-red) emissive nanostructures coated on blue LEDs to achieve white light, this work describes a single-source white light emitter of robust and superior quality using dual-doping. A modified synthesis method for intense white light emitting Cu, Mn dual-doped ZnSe QDs is engineered such that the extent of doping and concentration of ligands can alter their electronic structures. This is then customized to obtain various types of white light emissions ranging from warm white to cool white. Further, the composition-driven change in the electronic structure of the host QDs is exploited to achieve emission tunability over the entire visible range.