Photoconductivity and Relaxation Dynamics in Sonochemically Synthesized Assemblies of AgBiS2 Quantum Dots

The transport properties of nonequilibrium (photoexcited) charge carriers in sonochemically synthesized three-dimensional (3D) assemblies of AgBiS2 quantum dots (QDs) deposited as thin films were studied. To characterize the photoconduction of quantum-confined nanocrystals close packed in thin film form, both stationary and time-resolved experiments were performed. Besides by interband electronic transitions in the bulklike part of the nanocrystals, the photoresponse of nanocrystalline films was found to be also affected to a greater extent by the crystal boundary barrier height modulation upon illumination. The surface and bulk recombination velocities were found to be comparable. Good agreement was obtained between the band gap energy determined by analysis of the photoconductivity data measured by the constant field and the constant photocurrent method (similar to 1.18 eV). This value is in agreement with the optical spectroscopy data. It is higher than the optical band gap of a bulk specimen of this semiconductor, due to 3D confinement effects on the charge carrier motions within individual QDs. The nonequilibrium conductivity was found to relax exponentially with a time constant of 1.67 ms, which corresponds to average lifetime of minority charge carriers (holes).