Department: Chemistry
Faculty Advisor: Brandi Cossairt
Precise synthesis of quantum dots, rods, and wires with tunable light emission enables energy efficient optoelectronic technologies, and indium phosphide (InP) is a promising replacement for highly toxic cadmium- or lead-containing semiconductors. My research as a fourth year graduate student in the Cossairt Lab focuses on mechanistic understanding of InP nanocrystal synthesis with less toxic precursors and lower energy input. I am investigating my recent discovery of a new synthesis for InP nanorods requiring lower energy input and fewer precursors than existing syntheses. I aim to establish design rules to grow nanorods with diameters around 5 and 500 nanometers to study their exciting photoluminescence and charge mobility properties, respectively. Additionally, I will explore the limit of low temperature InP nucleation using Small Angle X-ray Scattering where specially designed binding templates localize InP precursors and lower the nucleation energetic barrier.