Size- and Temperature-Dependent Intraband Optical Properties of Heavily n-Doped PbS Colloidal Quantum Dot Solid-State Films

Steady-state access to intraband transitions in colloidal quantum dots (CQDs), via doping, permits exploitation of the electromagnetic spectrum at energies below the band gap. CQD intraband optoelectronics allows envisaging cheap mid- and long-wavelength infrared photodetectors and light-emitting devices, which today employ epitaxial materials. As intraband devices start to emerge, thorough studies of the basic properties of intraband transitions in different CQD materials are needed to guide technological research. In this work, we investigate the size and temperature dependence of the intraband transition in heavily n-doped PbS quantum dot (QD) films. In the studied QD size range (5–8 nm), the intraband energy spans from 209 to 151 meV. We measure the intraband absorption coefficient of heavily doped PbS QD films to be around 2 × 104 cm–1, proving that intraband absorption is as strong as interband absorption. We demonstrate a negative dependence of the intraband energy with temperature, in contrast to the positive dependence of the interband transition. Also opposite to the interband case, the temperature dependence of the intraband energy increases with decreasing size, going from −29 μeV/K to −49 μeV/K in the studied size range.