Synthesis and Characterization of Semiconductor Nanop Articulates

ABSTRACTSemiconductor nanoparticulates are important materials bridging the gap in size and electronic properties between molecular species and bulk materials. Synthetic approaches to producing controlled sized clusters of this sort will be described, covering physical encapsulation in zeolites or porous glass and extending to discrete syntheses using surface terminating reagents. The optical properties of the resultant materials will be described in detail and the structural topology of the clusters elucidated by combined powder and single crystal diffraction. Thermal transformations of these clusters into bulk materials will be tracked and the processing possibilities explored for the production of polycrystalline films and polymer/semiconductor composites. Photoconductivity in the latter composites will be described.