Dear Colleagues,

Research in silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs) has over thirty years of history; nevertheless, it still attracts significant attention today. Initially, a great effort was devoted to extending the use of silicon in optoelectronics for the realization of Si-based light-emitting devices, especially lasers. Following many years of studies, an understanding of the fundamentals of Si NC science and the tuning of light emission from Si NCs by engineering their size, surface, alloying, and doping was achieved. This opened up a new door for the development of Si-based optoelectronic devices such as all-inorganic silicon white-light LEDs, photodetectors to take advantage of strong light absorption in the ultraviolet region, and devices elaborately incorporated into solar cells.  However, many challenges still remain, such as the precise control of the optical properties of Si NCs by tuning of the quantum confinement, surface, and doping effects, and their integration within devices. Therefore, unceasing efforts are being devoted to advancing the research field of Si NCs. The continuous Si NC research and new device design development is assured to significantly improve existing products and to enable devices with novel functionalities. This Special Issue on “Silicon Nanocrystals: From Fundamentals to Applications” aims to cover a broad range of subjects, from Si NC synthesis, to surface engineering, and to the design and characterization of devices. In particular, we invite authors to contribute original research articles, letters, as well as comprehensive review articles covering the most recent progress and perspective views on fundamental issues and properties of Si NCs as well as the potential and challenges in the incorporation of Si NCs into various efficient optoelectronic devices, such as light-emitting diodes, sensors, photodetectors, solar cells, etc.

Dr. Vladimir Svrcek
Guest Editor

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• Synthesis and characterizations of Si NCs
• Fundamental physics and chemistry of Si NCs
• Surface engineering of Si NCs
• Alloying of Si NCs
• Solar cells
• Optoelectronic devices
• Light-emitting diodes
• Photonics
• Energy conversion
• Transport phenomena