Tailoring light emission in colloidal nanocrystals through lattice distortion engineering.
| Title: | Tailoring light emission in colloidal nanocrystals through lattice distortion engineering. |
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| Authors: | Park JW; SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea.; Min S; SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea.; Chae JA; SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea.; Department of Display Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea.; Lemus JC; Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6165, 13083-859 Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.; Jung D; SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea.; Park JS; SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea.; Im S; SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea.; Melo LB; Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6165, 13083-859 Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.; Scolfaro D; Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6165, 13083-859 Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.; Pieri L; Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6165, 13083-859 Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.; Barros LWT; Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6165, 13083-859 Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil.; Hwang E; SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea.; Park YS; Nanotechnology and Advanced Spectroscopy Team, C-PCS, Chemistry Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, US.; Almeida DB; Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo Andre, Sao Paulo, Brazil.; Park JS; SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea. jisangpark@skku.edu.; Klimov VI; Nanotechnology and Advanced Spectroscopy Team, C-PCS, Chemistry Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, US. klimov@lanl.gov.; Padilha LA; Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6165, 13083-859 Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. padilha@ifi.unicamp.br.; Bae WK; SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea. wkbae@skku.edu.; Department of Display Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea. wkbae@skku.edu. |
| Source: | Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2026 May 09. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 May 09. |
| Publication Model: | Ahead of Print |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Nature Pub. Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101528555 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2041-1723 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 20411723 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Nat Commun Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: [London] : Nature Pub. Group |
| Abstract: | Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots) exhibit bright, narrowband, and spectrally tunable emission, making them attractive for photonic applications. Their emission properties are governed by closely spaced exciton fine structure, whose thermal mixing complicates control over key characteristics such as color purity, radiative rate, and polarization. Moreover, the lowest-energy excitonic state is typically non-emissive (dark), suppressing emission rates, particularly at cryogenic temperatures. Here we show that these limitations can be addressed by inducing controlled lattice distortion in zinc blende CdSe nanocrystals through pseudomorphic epitaxial growth of a ZnSe shell. This approach modifies the exciton fine structure by placing an emissive (bright) state at the lowest energy and increasing the separation between bright states derived from light- and heavy-hole subbands. These changes reduce thermal mixing, resulting in accelerated emission at low temperatures, sub-thermal linewidths, and polarization. These findings establish lattice distortion engineering as a strategy for controlling emission properties in colloidal nanocrystals.; (© 2026. The Author(s).) |
| Competing Interests: | Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. |
| Grant Information: | RS-2024-00445116 National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF); RS-2024-00435693 Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260509 Latest Revision: 20260509 |
| Update Code: | 20260510 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-026-73031-1 |
| PMID: | 42106385 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
Journal Article