The Influence of Alloy Composition on the Electronic Properties of IV-VI Core/Shell Colloidal Heterostructures

Considering the significant potential of IVVI colloidal nanostructures in various technologies, this review describes the development and characterization of unique IVVI derivatives, consisting of core/shell heterostructures, when either the core or the shell (or both) has an alloy composition with the chemical formula PbSexS1-x/PbSeyS1-y (0=x(y)=1). We describe the synthetic procedures and a thorough investigation of the optical properties of the discussed materials. The experimental evidence is supported by suitable electronic band structure calculations. The special properties are expressed as fine tunability of the electronic properties, chemical and temperature stability, variation of electron?phonon interactions, emission Stokes shifts and lifetimes, upon the variation of the composition and/or architecture of the heterostructures. The properties obtained are of significant importance in opto-electronic applications.