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Copyright 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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8Tunneling and Optical Spectroscopyof Semiconductor NanocrystalQuantum Dots:Single-Particle and EnsemblePropertiesUri Banin and Oded MilloThe Hebrew University, Jerusalem, IsraelI. INTRODUCTIONSemiconductor nanocrystals are novel materials lying between the molecularand solid-state regime with the unique feature of properties controlled <strong>by</strong> size[1–5]. Containing hundreds to thousands of atoms, 20–200 A˚ in diameter,nanocrystals maintain a crystalline core with the periodicity of the bulksemiconductor. However, because the wave functions of electrons and holesare confined <strong>by</strong> the physical nanometric dimensions of the nanocrystals, theelectronic level structure and the resultant optical and electrical properties aregreatly modified. Upon reducing the size of direct-gap semiconductors intothe nanocrystal regime, a characteristic blue shift of the bandgap appears, anda discrete level structure develops as a result of the ‘‘quantum-size effect’’ inthese quantum dots (QDs) [6]. In addition, because of their small size, thecharging energy associated with the addition or removal of a single electron isvery high, leading to pronounced single-electron tunneling effects [7–9]. Dueto the unique optical and electrical properties, nanocrystals may play a keyrole in the emerging new field of nanotechnology in applications ranging fromlasers [10,11] and other optoelectronic devices [12,13] to biological fluorescencemarking [14–16].<strong>Copyright</strong> <strong>2004</strong> <strong>by</strong> <strong>Marcel</strong> <strong>Dekker</strong>, <strong>Inc</strong>. <strong>All</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Reserved</strong>.

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