Keywords

quantum dots, absorption, spectroscopy, absorption spectroscopy, band gap

Abstract

This presentation was given during the summer of 2016 as part of the BYU REU program funded by the NSF. Here I give a brief explanation of our quantum dot synthesis as well as explain the use of absorption spectroscopy to measure indirect band gap energies of semiconductors. Our experimental setup is shown and recent improvements are explained. We report indirect band gaps of quantum dots containing varying amounts of cobalt oxide and manganese oxide and synthesized in the protein ferritin. The data show that the band gap can be tuned arbitrarily in a certain range by varying the concentrations of manganese and cobalt in the reaction.