Fabricating thin films with colloidal quantum dots on planar substrates using polymethyl methacrylate

This paper demonstrates the possibilities of a method of depositing uniform layers of colloidal CdSe/CdS/ZnS quantum dots with a hydrophobic shell made from fatty acids and aliphatic amines onto planar substrates. Using centrifugation onto flat substrates, separate thin layers of polymethyl methacrylate and quantum dots are deposited with good adhesion, with the quantum dots being dispersed in the polymethyl methacrylate. The topology of the fabricated layers is investigated by means of atomic-force microscopy and luminescence mapping, and the processes of aggregation and segregation of the quantum dots into a separate phase is studied. The deposited layers can be structured by means of electron-beam lithography in order to create quantum-dot-based nanostructures. (C) 2018 Optical Society of America