Graphene/III–V Quantum Dot Mixed-Dimensional Heterostructure for Enhanced Radiative Recombinations via Hole Carrier Transfer

Fabrication of high quantum efficiency nanoscale device is challenging due to increased carrier loss at surface. Low dimensional materials such 0D quantum dots and 2D materials have been widely studied to mitigate the loss. Here, we demonstrate a strong photoluminescence enhancement from graphene/III-V quantum dot mixed-dimensional heterostructures. The distance between graphene and quantum dots in the 2D/0D hybrid structure determines the degree of radiative carrier recombination enhancement from 80% to 800% compared to the quantum dot only structure. Time-resolved photoluminescence decay also shows increased carrier lifetimes when the distance decreases from 50 to 10 nm. We propose that the optical enhancement is due to energy band bending and hole carrier transfer, which repair the imbalance of electron and hole carrier densities in quantum dots. This 2D graphene/0D quantum dot heterostructure shows promise for high performance nanoscale optoelectronic devices.