Phys.org  July 9, 2024 Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals based on CdSe have been precisely optimized for photonic applications in the visible spectrum. A team of researchers in the US (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Urbana) developed homogeneous nanocrystals with tunable bandgaps in the infrared spectrum based on HgSe and HgxCd1−xSe alloys derived from CdSe precursors. They found that Ag+ catalyses cation interdiffusion reduced the CdSe–HgSe alloying temperature from 250 °C to 80 °C. Together with ligands that modulated surface cation exchange rates, interdiffusion-enhanced Hg2+ exchange of diverse CdSe nanocrystals proceeded homogeneously and completely. The products retained the size, shape […]