Pulsed Laser Deposition of CdSe Quantum Dots on Zn₂SnO₄ Nanowires and Their Photovoltaic Applications

In this work we report a physical deposition-based, one-step quantum dot (QD) synthesis and assembly on ternary metal oxide nanowires for photovoltaic applications. Typical solution-based synthesis of colloidal QDs for QD sensitized solar cells involves nontrivial ligand exchange processing and toxic wet chemicals, and the effect of the ligands on carrier transport has not been fully understood. In this research using pulsed laser deposition, CdSe QDs were coated on Zn₂SnO₄ nanowires without ligand molecules, and the coverage could be controlled by adjusting the laser fluence. Growth of QDs in dense nanowire network structures was also achieved, and photovoltaic cells fabricated using this method exhibited promising device performance. This approach could be further applied for the assembly of QDs where ligand exchange is difficult and could possibly lead to reduced fabrication cost and improved device performance.