Study of structure and luminescence of CdSe Nanocrystals obtained by ball milling

The effect of mechanical milling on the structure and luminescent properties of CdSe powder has been investigated by means of cathodoluminescence (CL) in the scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction. The starting powders were ball milled for times between 5 and 20h. TEM of the milled samples reveals the presence of nanocrystals with a wide range of sizes including nanocrystals of 10nm and smaller. The CL spectra of the untreated samples show the characteristic band edge emission centered at 1.8eV. In the milled samples a band centered at about 2.5eV is observed which appears to be associated to the presence of nanocrystals. The evolution of defect structure with milling time has been monitored by recording infrared cathodoluminescence spectra. A partial phase transformation from wurtzite to zinc blende structure also has been observed.