title: Strong quantum confinement effect and reduced Fröhlich exciton-phonon coupling in ZnO quantum dots embedded inside a SiO2 matrix.
abstract: ZnO quantum dots (QDs) embedded in an amorphous SiO2 matrix were examined in depth by using variable-temperature photoluminescence (PL) and optical reflectance spectroscopies. Compared with ZnO bulk crystals, ZnO quantum dots with an average size of 4 nm exhibit a strong quantum confinement effect, evidenced by a large blue shift in both PL and reflectance peaks of excitons. More interestingly, a remarkably reduced long-range Fröhlich interaction was revealed in ZnO QDs. These fascinating effects may make ZnO QDs a very appealing system in the fields of optoelectronics and others.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China. sjxu@hku.hk.
authors.forename: J Q
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: X H
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Xu