ZnSe and ZnS:Mn nanocrystals were synthesized via the thermal decomposition of their corresponding organometallic precursors in a hot coordinating solvent (TOP/TOPO) mixture. The organic surface capping agents were substituted with EDTA molecules to impart hydrophilic surface properties to the resulting nanocrystals. The optical properties of the water-dispersible nanocrystals were analyzed by UV-visible and room temperature solution photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The solution PL spectra revealed emission peaks at 390 (ZnSe-EDTA) and 597 (ZnS:Mn-EDTA) nm with PL efficiencies of 4.0 (former) and 2.4% (latter), respectively. Two-photon spectra were obtained by fixing the excitation light source wavelengths at 616 nm (ZnSe-EDTA) and 560 nm (ZnS:Mn-EDTA). The emission peaks appeared at the same positions to that of the PL spectra but with lower peak intensity. In addition, the morphology and sizes of the nanocrystals were estimated from the corresponding HR-TEM images. The measured average particle sizes were 5.4 nm (ZnSe-EDTA) with a standard deviation of 1.2 nm, and 4.7 nm (ZnS:Mn-EDTA) with a standard deviation of 0.8 nm, respectively.

ZnS:Mn/ZnS core-shell quantum dots (QDs), were synthesized via a thermal decomposition reaction of organometallic precursors in a hot solvent mixture. The synthetic conditions of the quantum dots were monitored at various reaction temperatures for the core formation, while the shell formation temperature was fixed at 135 o C. The obtained colloidal nanocrystals at corresponding temperatures were characterized by UV-Vis, solution photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies, and further obtained powders were characterized by XRD, HR-TEM, and EDXS analyses. The synthetic temperature condition to obtain the best PL emission intensity for the core-shell QD was 135 o C, for both core and shell formation. At this temperature, solution PL spectrum showed a narrow emission peak at 583 nm with a relative PL quantum efficiency of 42.15%. In addition, the measured spherical particle sizes for the ZnS:Mn/ZnS nanocrystals via HR-TEM were in the range of 4.0 to 5.4 nm, while ellipsoidal particles were obtained at 150 o C.