Photoluminescence and XRD study of Nanocrystalline Cadmium Sulphide Deposited on the Patterned Surface of Diatom Biosilica
EMSL Project ID
33398
Abstract
The proposed research aims to study the optical, electronic and structural properties of hierarchical CdS/SiO2 hybrid composite material. This material is formed by depositing cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin film onto the patterned surface of Diatom biosilica using chemical bath deposition technique (CBD). The intricately patterned biosilica obtained from the shell of unicellular algae called Diatoms serve as novel templates for fabrication of optoelectronic nanostructures. CdS is a II-VI semiconductor, which has drawn considerable research interest due to its applications and potential applications in solar cells, photo-resistors, heterojunction diodes, electroluminescent layers and surface acoustic wave devices, thin film field effect transistors, image intensifiers, gas sensors, electron-beam pumped lasers, optical filters, vidicons, multilayer light emitting diodes and a variety of many other optoelectronic devices. By modifying the surface chemistry of the diatom frustules coating the surface of diatom Coscinodiscus wailesii biosilica with a thin film of CdS using the CBD technique, we expect the quantum confinement of the CdS thin film to produce novel optoelectronic properties in the CdS/diatom composite.We propose to study photoluminescence of the CdS/diatom composites at room temperature and below room temperatures to determine the band gap, defects, excitonic effects and quantum efficiency and distinguish strain effects from effects due to defects. We also wish to use micro XRD to confirm the presence of cubic CdS in addition to the hexagonal CdS, which was observed in HRTEM images.
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2009-08-13
End Date
2010-08-15
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator