Optical emission of statistical distributions of silicon quantum dots

Silicon quantum dots are a versatile luminescent material that can be easily integrated with existing Si-based optoelectronic devices, and with improved control over the optical emission and spectral resolution, they will facilitate new applications in other domains. Although the creation of size-and shape-selected silicon quantum dots with tunable properties is highly desirable, reducing the size (to access lower wavelengths) typically comes at a cost of increasing the bandwidth. However, using a polydispersed ensemble of silicon quantum dots (and some simple statistical models), we find that although spectral resolution can be improved by targeting specific shapes, achieving perfect monodispersivity is unnecessary. Depending on the optical properties required, simply restricting the polydispersivity of the sample in the right way may be sufficient, irrespective of the statistical distribution present in the sample.