Electrodeposited Quantum Dots: Metastable Rocksalt CdSe Nanocrystals on {111} Gold Alloys

Thin layers of epitaxial CdSe nanocrystals with rocksalt structure have been electrodeposited onto gold alloy films. The rocksalt phase does not normally exist for CdSe at ambient pressure, and its (meta)-stability is attributed to the strong interaction between CdSe and Cd–Au (since the phase is virtually absent for deposition onto pure gold films), and to the compressive surface tension forces of the very thin crystals. As the deposition continues, the crystals undergo a solid–solid phase transition to the more stable zincblende and wurtzite phases.