Introduction. Cadmium selenide semiconductor nanocrystals are a fluorescent material with unique optical properties. Their optical parameters, including the spectral position of the luminescence band, are tuned by varying the particle size from 2 to 10 nm, due to quantum size effects. The luminescence spectrum of the nanocrystals is a relatively narrow band, the position of the maximum in which depends on the average size of the nanocrystals, while the width is determined by the spread in their sizes. Modern synthesize techniques allow us to obtain nanocrystals with≤ 5–10% spread in size, and as a result the luminescence band is significantly narrower than in most luminescent organic molecules.
The methods developed for synthesis of core/shell type nanocrystals [1–3] make it possible to obtain nanostructures with high luminescence quantum yield, as a result of the fact that an energy barrier is created for electron–hole pairs that prevents nonradiative exchange of energy with the external environment. Thus semiconductor nanocrystals are a promising alternative to conventional luminophores based on organic dyes, and may be used to design optoelectronic devices. However, their performance is determined by the stability of the luminescent characteristics, including under prolonged UV irradiation.