Carrier Mobility, Lifetime, and Diffusion Length in Optically Thin Quantum Dot Semiconductor Films

We propose a method to measure the fundamental parameters that govern diffusion transport in optically thin quantum dot semiconductor films and apply it to quantum dot materials with different ligands. Thin films are excited optically, and the profile of photogenerated carriers is modeled using diffusion-based transport equations and taking into account the optical cavity effects. Correlation with steady-state photoluminescence experiments on different stacks comprising a quenching layer allows the extraction of the carrier diffusion length accurately from the experimental data. In the time domain, the mapping of the transient PL data with the solutions of the time-dependent diffusion equation leads to accurate calculations of the photogenerated carrier mobility. These findings allow the estimation of the speed limitations for diffusion-based transport in QD absorbers.