Local atomic and electronic structure of quantum dots based on Mn- and Co-doped ZnS

Abstract

Solid solutions of zinc sulfide with manganese and cobalt are synthesized. Based on the analysis of X-ray diffraction profiles the conclusion is drawn about the formation of a hexagonal wurtzite type structure in the synthesized quantum dot (QD) solutions. The average crystallite sizes are 8 nm and 22 nm for the samples with manganese and cobalt respectively. Results of IR and optical spectroscopy are consistent with the powder X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence data. The question about particle aggregation in isopropanol and DMF solutions is considered. The QD structures based on ZnS particles doped with Mn and Co transition metal atoms are modeled. The possibility to apply X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy to verify the atomic structure parameters around the positions of doping transition metal atoms in QDs of the ZnS family is shown. Partial densities of ZnS:Mn and ZnS:Co electronic states are calculated.