Thermal doping by vacancy formation in nanocrystals

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9754802-B2
Application number	US-201414903128-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 10, 2014
Priority date	Jul 11, 2013
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

The invention generally relates to methods of thermal doping by vacancy formation in nanocrystals, devices and uses thereof.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for vacancy doping of a nanoparticle material, the method comprising:
treating a nanoparticle material, under oxygen-free conditions, and at a temperature below 380K, said temperature being selected to permit formation of vacancies within the nanoparticle material, while avoiding fusion of said nanoparticles.

2. The method according to claim 1 , the method being performed such that at least one electrical property of a nanoparticle material is amplified or attenuated.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the electrical property is selected from free charge carriers, conductance, impedance, resistance, voltage, current, potential and polarization.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein vacancy doping amplifies conductance of the nanoparticle material.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the number of vacancies per nanoparticle is between 1 to 1,000 vacancies per nanoparticle.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the number of vacancies ranges from 0.001% to 20%, 0.01% to 20%, 0.1% to 20% or 1% to 20% of the number of lattice sites in the nanoparticle.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein vacancies are achievable by laser beam radiation, the laser beam being selected to have a beam wavelength corresponding to the wavelength range of the absorption spectra of the nanoparticle material.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a step of forming an array or a pattern of nanoparticles prior to or after vacancy doping.

9. The method according to claim 8 , comprising:
obtaining the nanoparticles array; and
thermally treating said nanoparticles array so as to cause vacancy doping.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the thermal treatment is achieved by laser induced heating.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the method forms a pattern of vacancy doped nanoparticles in the nanoparticles array.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the pattern is conductive.

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the pattern is formed on an electronic device.

14. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a step of doping a vacancy doped nanoparticle with at least one foreign atom.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the foreign atom is Li or Mg or Na or K or Rb or Cs or Be or Ca or Sr or Ba or Sc or Ti or V or Cr or Fe or Ni or Cu or Zn or Y or La or Zr or Nb or Tc or Ru or Mo or Rh or W or Au or Pt or Pd or Ag or Co or Cd or Hf or Ta or Re or Os or Ir or Hg or B or Al or Ga or In or Tl or C or Si or Ge or Sn or Pb or any combination thereof.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticle is a colloidal nanoparticle of at least one material selected from metal, insulator, and a semiconductor material.

Assignees

• Yissum Res Dev Co

Inventors

• Banin Uri
• Vinokurov Kathy
• Millo Oded
• Bekenstein Yehonadav

Classifications

• H10P95/90 Primary

  Thermal treatments, e.g. annealing or sintering · CPC title

• H01L29/227

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L29/242

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L29/0665

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L21/477 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic