Abstract

Nanocrystals and nanoparticles are described as clusters having diameters in the range of one to several hundreds of nanometers. A “nanocrystal” is considered as a cluster of crystals, whereas a “nanoparticle” can consist of both crystalline and noncrystalline clusters. The synthesis of nano-crystals/nanoparticles has attracted extensive studies in the past several decades. These materials show size-dependent physical properties that are not shown by their bulk counterparts. For example, a Si nanocrystal shows photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL), which cannot be achieved in bulk silicon due to its indirect bandgap. Therefore, precise control during the synthesis of nanocrystals/nanoparticles is of key importance for their applications.