Impacts of Dopant and Post-Synthetic Heat-Treatment on Carrier Relaxation of Cu2+-Doped CdSe Nanoplatelets

Doped II-VI semiconductor two-dimensional (2D) nanoplatelets (NPLs) are emergent optoelectronic materials due to one-dimensional strong quantum confinement. Here, we report the impact of Cu2+ dopant and post-synthetic heat treatment on structural modification and the ultrafast carrier relaxation of CdSe NPLs. Rietveld's analysis reveals the isostructural atomic arrangements of Cu-doped CdSe NPLs, where dopant Cu atoms substitutionally replace Cd atoms. Significant photoluminescence quenching and the shortening of the decay time of CdSe NPLs are found in the presence of the Cu dopant. The influence of the dopant and post-synthetic heat treatment on the ultrafast relaxation processes and trapmediated relaxation times is confirmed by the femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (fs-TAS) study because of the substitutional incorporation of Cu2+ ions in the CdSe lattice. These findings will pave the way to design doped semiconductor NPLs-based optoelectronic devices.

Automated summary

The impact of Cu2+ doping and post-synthetic heat treatment on structural modification and carrier relaxation of CdSe NPLs is studied. It is found that Cu atoms substitutionally replace Cd atoms, resulting in significant photoluminescence quenching and shorter decay time. The influence of doping and heat treatment on carrier relaxation processes is confirmed by fs-TAS study, providing a basis for the design of new optoelectronic devices.