Monodisperse ZnO nanodots: Synthesis, charaterization, and optoelectronic properties

An effective and reliable synthetic route has been developed for the preparation of almost perfectly monodisperse 3 to similar to 4 nm ZnO nanocrystals. In addition, a PL peak with a blue-shift of 0.16 eV has been observed in the PL spectrum, showing good size uniformity of the nanodots. The band gap has also been verified in the analysis of I-V characteristics of an ITO/ZnO/SiO2/Al structure, from which the band alignment of the ZnO nanodots on ITO has been determined. This work demonstrates an efficient synthesis of ZnO nanodots and an easy approach to studying physical properties of nanocrystals that will help the material optimization in device application.