Theoretical and experimental investigation of doping M in ZnSe (M = Cd, Mn, Ag, Cu) clusters: optical and bonding characteristics.

The optical and bonding characteristics of doping ZnSe quantum dots (QDs) were investigated. Cd-, Mn-, Ag- and Cu-doped ZnSe were synthesized in aqueous solution. Theoretically, the intensity of the Cd-Se bond was similar to that of the Zn-Se bond, which illustrates that Cd can be doped into ZnSe materials at any ratio. We found that Mn-Se bonding was stronger than Zn-Se bonding. Ag-doped ZnSe nanoclusters show the same bonding and configuration as Cu-doped ZnSe. Moreover, Cd can be doped into ZnSe using both the substitution- and vacancy-doping method. For Mn-doped ZnSe clusters, small amounts of Mn impurity lead to stronger bonding with Se, but larger amounts of Mn impurity led to the formation of a Mn-Mn metal bond. The theoretical results show that it is difficult to form a vacancy-doping cluster for Mn-doped ZnSe materials. In experiments, the absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectral wavelengths of Mn-doped ZnSe nanocrystals were the same as those of pure ZnSe nanocrystals, showing that the Mn impurity is not doped into ZnSe nanocrystals. Ag- and Cu-doped ZnSe nanocrystals have the same PL characteristics. The doping of an impurity is related to the solubility product, and not the bonding intensity.