PbSe Nanorod Field-Effect Transistors: Room- and Low-Temperature Performance

Abstract

Lead chalcogenides with large exciton Bohr radius display strong quantum confinement, which make them applicable in a wide range of optoelectronic devices such as solar cells and photodetectors. Especially, 1D PbSe nanocrystals attract much attention with their potential for multiple exciton generation. However, very little is known on their charge transport properties. In this study well performing field-effect transistors based on PbSe nanorods with an inorganic iodide-based ligand are presented for the first time. The transistors at room temperature display ambipolar characteristics with electron mobility of ≈0.1 cm2 V−1 s−1 and hole mobility of 1.1 × 10−4 cm2 V−1 s−1 in the ultraclean environment. Low temperature investigation reveals a transition around 200 K between nearest-neighbor and variable-range hopping mechanism. Below 200 K, the transport properties are dominated by the severe disorder.