Development of Indium Antimonide Quantum Dots via Novel Precursors

红外成像让我们能够看到肉眼看不见的东西的可能性是深远的，在消费、工业和国防部门的应用。量子点(QD)是人类头发宽度的千分之一左右的纳米粒子，将在未来几年给图像传感行业带来革命性的变化，实现比目前的硅光电探测器更高的效率，并以比InGaAs更低的成本将光谱调谐到短波红外(SWIR)。随着产品将于2023年上市，利用基于铅的量子点，传感器制造商已经在期待下一代材料来增强这项技术。铟锑化合物(InSb)可以提供一种不含重金属的替代材料，具有极高的载流子迁移率，并有可能将检测范围扩展到中波长红外(MWIR)，以提供替代材料，如硒化铅(PbSe)或碲化汞(HgTe)的更安全的替代材料。然而，到目前为止，由于缺乏合适的锑前驱体，可扩展的合成高质量InSb量子点的方法一直受到阻碍。Nanoco Technologies Limited(Nanoco)是合成和放大量子点和其他纳米粒子的世界领先者，它率先利用其专利的“分子种子”技术开发了无镉量子点。Nanoco正在与图像传感器领域的许多合作伙伴合作，为他们的应用量身定做材料。基于Nanoco在开发量子点合成创新方法方面的经验，该项目的目标是开发三种不同类型的新型锑前驱体，然后探索它们在合成InSb量子点方面的用途，最成功的路线正在扩大规模，以演示该技术的概念验证。该项目的创新将向传感器领域的客户展示，以便快速集成和部署到商业产品中。该项目的潜在应用范围广泛，从用于分类和质量控制的机器视觉，到使用移动设备、面部识别和未来自动驾驶汽车的传感器进行健康监测，促进对环境、健康和安全的积极影响。

The possibilities of infrared imaging in allowing us to see what's invisible to the naked eye are far-reaching, with applications in the consumer, industrial and defence sectors. Quantum dots (QDs), nanoparticles around 1/1000th the width of a human hair, are set to revolutionise the image sensing industry in the coming years, enabling increased efficiency over current silicon photodetectors and spectral tunability into the short-wavelength infrared (SWIR), at a lower cost than InGaAs. With products set to reach the market in 2023, utilising lead-based QDs, sensor manufacturers are already looking towards the next generation of materials to enhance this technology. Indium antimonide (InSb) may offer a heavy metal-free alternative, with exceptionally high carrier mobility and the possibility to extend the detection range into the medium-wavelength infrared (MWIR) to provide a safer alternative to alternative materials, such as lead selenide (PbSe) or mercury telluride (HgTe). However, thus far, scalable methods to synthesise high quality InSb QDs have been hampered by the lack of availability of suitable antimony precursors.Nanoco Technologies Limited (Nanoco) is a world leader in the synthesis and scale-up of QDs and other nanoparticles, having pioneered the development of cadmium-free QDs using its patented "molecular seeding" technology. Nanoco is working with a number of partners in the image sensor field to tailor its materials for their applications. Building on from Nanoco's experience in developing innovative approaches towards QD synthesis, the aim of the project is to develop three different types of novel antimony precursors, then explore their use to synthesise InSb QDs, with the most successful route being scaled to demonstrate proof-of-concept of the technology. The project innovation will be showcased to customers in the sensor field, for rapid integration and deployment into commercial products.Potential applications of the project are wide ranging, from machine vision for sorting and quality control, to health monitoring using mobile devices, facial recognition, and sensors for future autonomous vehicles, facilitating positive impacts on the environment, health and security.