Highly ordered CdS nanoparticle arrays on silicon substrates and photoluminescence properties

Abstract

Highly ordered cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanoparticle (NP) arrays were fabricated on silicon (Si) substrates using ultrathin alumina membranes as evaporation masks. The CdS NPs are polycrystalline and are composed of ultrasmall closely packed nanocrystallites. These crystallites increase in size as the duration of the CdS evaporation process increases. When the thickness of the NPs changes from about 10 to 50 nm, the size of the crystallites increases from about 5–14 to 20–40 nm. Photoluminescence measurements on the CdS NP arrays show a strong emission spectrum with two subbands that are attributed to band-edge and surface-defect emissions. The peak position and width of the band-edge emission band are closely related to the size of the crystallites in the CdS NPs.