• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.449-454
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• 2006

Here we present a sensitive DNA detection protocol using quantum dots (QDs) and magnetic beads (MBs) for large volume samples. In this study, QDs, conjugated with streptavidin, were used to produce fluorescent signals while magnetic beads (MBs) were used to isolate and concentrate the signals. The presence of target DNAs leads to the sandwich hybridization between the functionalized QDs, the target DNAs and the MBs. In fact, the QDs-MBs complex, which is bound using the target DNA, can be isolated and then concentrated. The binding of the QDs to the surface of the MBs was confirmed by confocal microscopy and Cd elemental analysis. It was found that the fluorescent intensity was proportional to concentration of the target DNA, while the presence of non-complementary DNA produced no significant fluorescent signal. In addition, the presence of low copies of target DNAs such as 0.5 pM in large volume samples up to 40mL was successfully detected by using a magnet-assisted concentration protocol which consequently results in the enhancement of the sensitivity more than 100-fold.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.1282-1292
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• 2011

The biotin-attached G8 molecular transporter (5) was synthesized and used together with quantum dots in preparing the complexes (QD-MT). The QD-MT complexes were studied in terms of the cellular uptake and the internalization mechanism in live HeLa cells with the aid of various known endocytosis inhibitors. It has been concluded that the QD-MT complex is internalized largely by macropinocytosis. The mouse tissue distribution of the QD-MT complex by i.p. and i.v. routes showed some organ selectivity and a good ability to cross the BBB.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.307-316
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• 2014

Improved power conversion efficiency of hybrid solar cells with ITO/ZnO seed layer/ZnO NRs/ZnS QDs/P3HT/PCBM/Ag structure was obtained by optimizing the growth period of ZnO nanorods (NRs). ZnO NRs were grown using a hydrothermal method on ZnO seed layers, while ZnS quantum dots (QDs) (average thickness about 24 nm) were fabricated on the ZnO NRs by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) technique. Morphology, crystalline structure and optical absorption of layers were analyzed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Visible absorption spectra, respectively. The XRD results implied that ZnS QDs were in the cubic phase (sphalerite). Other experimental results showed that the maximum power conversion efficiency of 4.09% was obtained for a device based on ZnO NR10 under an illumination of one Sun (AM 1.5G, $100mW/cm^2$).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.489-489
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• 2011

The effect of Si quantum dots for solar cell appications was investigated. The 5 ~ 10 nm Si nanoparticle was fabricated on p-type single and poly crystalline wafer by magnetron sputtering and laser irradiation process. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force measurement (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the Si QDs array were clearly embedded in insulating layer ($SiO_2$). Photoluminesence (PL) measurements reliably exhibited bandgap transitions with every size of Si QDs. The photo-current measurements were showed different result with size of QD and number of superlattice.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.194-200
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• 2006

Self-assembled InAs/InAl(Ga)As quantum dots (QDs) were grown on InP substrates by a molecular-beam epiaxy, and their structural and optical properties were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and room-temperature photoluminescence (PL). AFM images indicated that the InAs quantum structures showed various shapes such as quantum dashes, asymmetric and symmetric QDs mainly caused by the initial surface conditions of InAl(Ga)As with the intrinsic phase separation. For the buried InAs QDs in an InAlGaAs matrix, the average lateral size and height of QDs were 23 and 2 nm, respectively. By changing the growth conditions for the QD samples, the emission wavelength of $1.55{\mu}m$ was obtained, which is one of the wavelength windows for fiber optic communications.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.169-173
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• 2023

With the increasing concern of global warming caused by greenhouse gases owing to the recent industrial development, there is a growing need for advanced technology to control these emissions. Among the various greenhouse gases, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) is a major contributor to global warming and is mainly released from sources, such as automobile exhaust and factories. Although semiconductor-type NO₂ gas sensors, such as SnO₂, have been extensively studied, they often require high operating temperatures and complicated manufacturing processes, while lacking selectivity, resulting in inaccurate measurements of NO₂ gas levels. To address these limitations, a novel sensor using PbS quantum dots (QDs) was developed, which operates at low temperatures and exhibits high selectivity toward NO₂ gas owing to its strong oxidation reaction. Furthermore, the use of P3HT conductive polymer improved the thin film quality, reactivity, and reaction rate of the sensor. The sensor demonstrated the ability to accurately measure NO₂ gas concentrations ranging from 500 to 100 ppm, with a 5.1 times higher sensitivity, 1.5 times higher response rate, and 1.15 times higher recovery rate compared with sensors without P3HT.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.379-383
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• 2008

We report on the light-emitting diode (LED) characteristics of core-shell CdSe/ZnS nanocrystal quantum dots (QDs) embedded in $TiO_2$thin films on a Si substrate. A simple p-n junction could be formed when nanocrystal QDs on a p-type Si substrate were embedded in ${\sim}5\;nm$ thick $TiO_2$ thin film, which is inherently an n-type semiconductor. The $TiO_2$ thin film was deposited over QDs at $200^{\circ}C$ using plasma-enhanced metallorganic chemical vapor deposition. The LED structure of $TiO_2$/QDs/Si showed typical p-n diode currentvoltage and electroluminescence characteristics. The colloidal core-shell CdSe/ZnS QDs were synthesized via pyrolysis in the range of $220-280^{\circ}C$. Pyrolysis conditions were optimized through systematic studies as functions of synthesis temperature, reaction time, and surfactant amount.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.191-191
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• 2012

InP quantum dot (QD) - organosilicon nanocomposites were synthesized and their photoluminescence quenching was mainly investigated because of their applicability to white LEDs (light emitting diodes). The as-synthesized InP QDs which were capped with myristic acid (MA) were incompatible with typical silicone encapsulants. Post ligand exchange the MA with a new ligand, 3-aminopropyldimethylsilane (APDMS), resulted in soluble InP QDs bearing Si-H groups on their surface (InP-APDMS) which allow embedding the QDs into vinyl-functionalized silicones through direct chemical bonding, overcoming the phase separation problem. However, the ligand exchange from MA to APDMS caused a significant decrease in the photoluminescent efficiency which is interpreted by ligand induced surface corrosion relying on theoretical calculations. The InP-APDMS QDs were cross-linked by 1,4-divinyltetramethylsilylethane (DVMSE) molecules via hydrosilylation reaction. As the InP-organosilicon nanocomposite grew, its UV-vis absorbance was increased and at the same time, the PL spectrum was red-shifted and, very interestingly, the PL was quenched gradually. Three PL quenching mechanisms are regarded as strong candidates for the PL quenching of the QD nano-composites, namely the scattering effect, Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and cross-linker tension preventing the QD's surface relaxation.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.211-217
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• 2014

The self-assembled strain-induced sub-micrometric islands and nanostructures are grown from In-As-Sb-P quaternary liquid phase on InAs (100) substrates in Stranski-Krastanow growth mode. Two samples are under consideration. The first sample consists of unencapsulated islands and lens-shape quantum dots (QDs) grown from expressly inhomogeneous liquid phase. The second sample is an n-InAs/p-InAsSbP heterostructure with QDs embedded in the p-n junction interface. The morphology, size and shape of the structures are investigated by high-resolution scanning electron (SEM) and transmission electron (TEM) microscopy. It is shown that islands, as they decrease in size, undergo shape transitions. Particularly, as the volume decreases, the following succession of shape transitions are detected: sub-micrometric truncated pyramid, {111} facetted pyramid, {111} and partially {105} facetted pyramid, completely unfacetted "pre-pyramid", hemisphere, lens-shaped QD, which then evolves again to nano-pyramid. A critical size of $5{\pm}2nm$ for the shape transformation of InAsSbP-based lens-shaped QD to nano-pyramid is experimentally measured and theoretically evaluated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2015.08a
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• pp.191.2-191.2
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• 2015

Details of carrier dynamics in self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) with a particular attention to nonradiative processes are not only interesting for fundamental physics, but it is also relevant to performance of optoelectronic devices and the exploitation of nanocrystals in practical applications. In general, the possible processes in such systems can be considered as radiative relaxation, carrier transfer between dots of different dimensions, Auger nonradiactive scattering, thermal escape from the dot, and trapping in surface and/or defects states. Authors of recent studies have proposed a mechanism for the carrier dynamics of time-resolved photoluminescence CdTe (a type II-VI QDs) systems. This mechanism involves the activation of phonons mediated by electron-phonon interactions. Confinement of both electrons and holes is strongly dependent on the thermal escape process, which can include multi-longitudinal optical phonon absorption resulting from carriers trapped in QD surface defects. Furthermore, the discrete quantized energies in the QD density of states (1S, 2S, 1P, etc.) arise mainly from ${\delta}$-functions in the QDs, which are related to different orbitals. Multiple discrete transitions between well separated energy states may play a critical role in carrier dynamics at low temperature when the thermal escape processes is not available. The decay time in QD structures slightly increases with temperature due to the redistribution of the QDs into discrete levels. Among II-VI QDs, wide-gap CdZnTe QD structures characterized by large excitonic binding energies are of great interest because of their potential use in optoelectronic devices that operate in the green spectral range. Furthermore, CdZnTe layers have emerged as excellent candidates for possible fabrication of ferroelectric non-volatile flash memory. In this study, we investigated the optical properties of CdZnTe/ZnTe QDs on Si substrate grown using molecular beam epitaxy. Time-resolved and temperature-dependent PL measurements were carried out in order to investigate the temperature-dependent carrier dynamics and the activation energy of CdZnTe/ZnTe QDs on Si substrate.