Scanning tunneling microscopy studies of charge transport in cadmium selenide/zinc sulfide quantum dots

This thesis examines charge transport in individual colloidal nanocrystals (quantum dots) using a scanning tunneling microscope. We observe coulomb blockade (CB) at room temperature and extract the charging energy of the quantum dot (QD). We analyze time-dependent CB measurements to determine the lifetime and energy of the trapped charge on the QD. A model of the lifetime is presented, furthering our analysis of the charge detrapping mechanism.;We observe a hysteresis in the current-voltage (IV) tunneling spectra as the substrate bias is swept from empty to filled states and then back to empty states. This hysteresis is consistent with trapped charge(s) presenting an additional potential barrier to tunneling, a measure of CB. Traditional CB experiments measure a coulomb repulsion due to charge build-up on the island between two electrodes. We observe CB, hysteresis in successive IV sweeps, due to charge trapping/detrapping in a state other than the transport level. This trap state may be related to the dark state in blinking experiments.;Optical and electrical measurements of QD trap states are often related to a puzzling physical phenomena observed universally in QDs: blinking. Blinking is the stochastic photoluminescence behavior of quantum dots, where, under constant excitation by a laser, a QD does not emit a continuous stream of photons. In fact, the QD will blink "on" and "off" for completely unpredictable durations that are thought to be related to the QD being in either a neutral or charged state.;We measure a lifetime for the charged state of 15 +/- 7 s when Vsub ≤ 1.5 V and 170 +/- 140 ms when Vsub ≥ 1.6 V. The abrupt transition in lifetime between 1.5 and 1.6 V implies that this is the voltage necessary to lower the Au Fermi level equal to the trap state energy, thus allowing the trapped charge to tunnel out of the trap state. The voltage drop between the QD and substrate, determined from a self-consistent calculation of the relative capacitance between the tip, QD, and substrate, at Vsub = 1.6 V is 420 meV. The trap state is located, ∼780 meV below E C,QD. The energy of the trap state is comparable to a deep surface state, that may be responsible for the long (milliseconds to seconds) "off" durations in blinking experiments.