Interfacial strain effect on type-I and type-II core/shell quantum dots

A comparative experimental and theoretical study on the calculation of capped core diameter in ZnSe/ZnS, CdSe/Cd(Zn)S type-I and ZnSe/CdS type-II core/shell nanocrystals is presented. The lattice mismatch induced interface strain between core and shell was calculated from continuum elastic theory and applied in effective mass approximation method to obtain the corresponding capped core diameter. The calculated results were compared with diameter of bare cores (CdSe and ZnSe) from transmission electron microscopy images to obtain the amount of the stretched or squeezed core after deposition of tensile or compressive shells. The result of the study showed that the core is squeezed in ZnSeanS and CdSe/Cd(Zn)S after compressive shell and stretched in ZnSe/CdS after tensile shell deposition. The stretched and squeezed amount of the capped core found to be in proportion with lattice mismatch amount in the core/shell structure. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.