Lead-Chalcogenide Colloidal-Quantum-Dot Solids: Novel Assembly Methods, Electronic Structure Control, and Application Prospects

The quest for novel semiconductors with easy, cheap fabrication and tailorable properties has led to the development of several classes of materials, such as semiconducting polymers, carbon nanotubes, hybrid perovskites, and colloidal quantum dots. All these candidates can be processed from the liquid phase, enabling easy fabrication, and are suitable for different electronic and optoelectronic applications. Here, recent developments in the field of colloidal-quantum-dot solids are discussed, with a focus on lead-chalcogenide systems. These include novel deposition methods; the recent growing understanding of their fundamental properties, driven by major successes in the control of the nanostructured assembly and surface chemistry; and selected reports on lab-scale devices showing the technological prospects of these fascinating class of materials.