Shining Light on Indium Phosphide Quantum Dots: Understanding the Interplay among Precursor Conversion, Nucleation, and Growth

InP quantum dots have emerged as an exciting class of phosphors for displays and energy-efficient solid state lighting. Unfortunately, the synthesis of these materials has lagged behind that of related II-VI and IV-VI materials. It is becoming increasingly apparent that this may be due, in many cases, to the inability to control quantum dot nucleation and crystallization using precursor conversion kinetics. In this perspective, recent work on understanding the nucleation and growth of InP from the perspective of nonclassical nucleation models is discussed. In particular, the recent discovery that kinetically persistent magic-size nanoclusters build up during the high temperature synthesis of this material will be highlighted. Isolation and complete structural characterization of one such InP nanocluster has offered unprecedented insight into the structure and surface chemistry of InP and its deviation from how we think about quantum dot structure and composition based on models built for II-VI materials. Moreover, this cluster offers an exciting playground to test hypotheses related to ligand and cation exchange as well as serving as a stepping stone to develop a more complete understanding of the properties that govern nanomaterial nucleation.