Search

Colloidal cadmium chalcogenide nanoplates are two-dimensional semiconductors that have shown great application prospect for light-emitting technologies. Self-trapped state (STS), a special localized state originated from strong electron-phonon coupling (EPC), has great potential in one-step white light luminance owing to its broadband emission linewidth. However, achieving STS in cadmium chalcogenide nanocrystals is extremely challenging due to their intrinic weak EPC nature. By building hybrid superlattice (SL) structures via self-assembly of colloidal CdSe nanoplates (NPLs), we demonstrated an emergence of zone-folded longnitude acoustic phonons (ZFLAP) differ from monodispersed NPLs, and observed a broadband STS emission in spectra range of 450-600 nm. Through femtosecond transient absorption and impulsive vibrational spectroscopy, we revealed that STS is generated in time scale of ~500 fs and is driven by strong coupling of excitons and ZFLAPs with Huang-Rhys parameter as large as ~22.7. Our findings provide a new avenue for generating and manipulating STS emission by artificially designing and building hybrid periodic structures superior to single material optimization., 25 pages, 4 figures

Nanocrystals (NCs) with identical components and sizes but different crystal structures could not be distinguished by conventional absorption and emission spectra. Herein, we find that circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy can easily distinguish the CdSe nanoplatelets (NPLs) with different crystal structures of wurtzite (WZ) and zincblende (ZB) with the help of chiral l- or d-cysteine ligands. In particular, the CD signs of the first excitonic transitions in WZ and ZB NPLs capped by the same chiral cysteine are opposite. Theoretic calculation supports the viewpoint of different crystal structures and surfaces arrangements between WZ and ZB NPLs contributing to this significant phenomenon. The CD peaks appearing at the first excitonic transition band of WZ or ZB CdSe NPLs are clearly assigned to the different transition polarizations along 4p( x,y,z),Se → 5sCd or 4p( x,y),Se → 5sCd. This work not only provides a deep insight into the origin of the optical activity inside chiral semiconductor nanomaterials but also proposes the design principle of chiral semiconductor nanocrystals with high optic activity.

Comprehension and modulation of optical activity at nanoscale have attracted tremendous interest in the past decades due to its potential application in many fields including chemical/biological sensing, artificial metamaterials, asymmetric catalysis, and so forth. As for the conventional molecular materials, magnetic field is among the most effective routes in inducing and manipulating their optical activity; whereas the magnetic optical activity at nanoscale calls for deeper understanding, especially for anisotropic noble metal nanoparticles. In this work, distinctly different magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) responses are demonstrated in gold nanorods (GNRs) with a derivative-shaped MCD signal corresponding to the transverse surface plasmon resonance (TSPR) band and a Gaussian-shaped signal at the position of the longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) band. Furthermore, changing the aspect ratio of GNRs easily regulates such magnetoplasmonic CD response. More interestingly, GNR assemblies with different geometric configuration (end-to-end and side-by-side) show structure-sensitive magnetoplasmonic CD response. Armed with theoretical calculation, we clearly elucidate the intrinsic relationship of the resultant magnetoplasmonic CD response with the optical symmetry and geometry factor inside one-dimensional GNRs. This work not only greatly benefits our understanding toward the nature of SPR mode in anisotropic plasmonic nanostructures but also opens the way to achieve tunable magnetoplasmonic response, which will significantly advance the design and application of optical nanodevices.