Room temperature self-assembly of CdSe nanocrystals on SiO2-coated Si wafer

A simple method for deposition of CdSe nanocrystals to silicon surfaces using self-assembled monolayers is described. CdSe nanocrystals were first synthesized by using sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate as surfactant in inverse micellar solution. An obvious 1s–1s absorption peak at View the MathML source and narrow width of photoluminescence peak at View the MathML source implied a narrow size distribution of CdSe nanocrystals. Then these nanocrystals were assembled on SiO2-coated Si substrate by bifunctional linker molecule (3-mercaptopropyl)-trimethoxysilane (MPS). Auger electron spectroscopy showed that the MPS monolayer has been limited on SiO2-coated Si substrate. The results of atomic force microscopy analysis and contact-angle measurements confirmed that nanocrystals with uniform sizes were bound to MPS-modified substrate through Cd–S covalent bounding.