Fine Structure and Spin Dynamics of Linearly Polarized Indirect Excitons in Two-Dimensional CdSe/CdTe Colloidal Heterostructures

Optically Driven Both Classical and Quantum Unary, Binary, and Ternary Logic Gates on Co-Decorated Graphene Nanoflakes

Nanospintronics holds great potential for providing high-speed, low-power, and high-density logic and memory elements in future computational devices. Here, using ab initio many-body theory, we suggest a nanoscale framework for building quantum computation elements, based on individual magnetic atoms deposited on graphene nanoflakes. We show the great possibilities of this proposal by exemplarily presenting four quantum gates, namely, the unary Pauli-X, Pauli-Y, Pauli-Z, and Hadamard gates, as well as the universal classical ternary Toffoli gate, which preserves information entropy and is therefore fully reversible and minimally energy consuming. All our gates operate within the subpicosecond time scale and reach fidelities well above 90%. We demonstrate the ability to control the spin direction and localization, as well as to create superposition states and to control the quantum phase of states, which are indispensable ingredients of quantum computers. Additionally, being optically driven, their predicted operating speed by far beats that of modern quantum computers.

Gradient Type-II CdSe/CdSeTe/CdTe Core/Crown/Crown Heteronanoplatelets with Asymmetric Shape and Disproportional Excitonic Properties

Characterized by their strong 1D confinement and long-lifetime red-shifted emission spectra, colloidal nanoplatelets (NPLs) with type-II electronic structure provide an exciting ground to design complex heterostructures with remarkable properties. This work demonstrates the synthesis and optical characterization of CdSe/CdSeTe/CdTe core/crown/crown NPLs having a step-wise gradient electronic structure and disproportional wavefunction distribution, in which the excitonic properties of the electron and hole can be finely tuned through adjusting the geometry of the intermediate crown. The first crown with staggered configuration gives rise to a series of direct and indirect transition channels that activation/deactivation of each channel is possible through wavefunction engineering. Moreover, these NPLs allow for switching between active channels with temperature, where lattice contraction directly affects the electron-hole (e-h) overlap. Dominated by the indirect transition channels over direct transitions, the lifetime of the NPLs starts to increase at 9 K, indicative of low dark-bright exciton splitting energy. The charge transfer states from the two type-II interfaces promote a large number of indirect transitions, which effectively increase the absorption of low-energy photons critical for nonlinear properties. As a result, these NPLs demonstrate exceptionally high two-photon absorption cross-sections with the highest value of 12.9 × 10⁶ GM and superlinear behavior.

2D II-VI Semiconductor Nanoplatelets: From Material Synthesis to Optoelectronic Integration

The field of colloidal synthesis of semiconductors emerged 40 years ago and has reached a certain level of maturity thanks to the use of nanocrystals as phosphors in commercial displays. In particular, II-VI semiconductors based on cadmium, zinc, or mercury chalcogenides can now be synthesized with tailored shapes, composition by alloying, and even as nanocrystal heterostructures. Fifteen years ago, II-VI semiconductor nanoplatelets injected new ideas into this field. Indeed, despite the emergence of other promising semiconductors such as halide perovskites or 2D transition metal dichalcogenides, colloidal II-VI semiconductor nanoplatelets remain among the narrowest room-temperature emitters that can be synthesized over a wide spectral range, and they exhibit good material stability over time. Such nanoplatelets are scientifically and technologically interesting because they exhibit optical features and production advantages at the intersection of those expected from colloidal quantum dots and epitaxial quantum wells. In organic solvents, gram-scale syntheses can produce nanoparticles with the same thicknesses and optical properties without inhomogeneous broadening. In such nanoplatelets, quantum confinement is limited to one dimension, defined at the atomic scale, which allows them to be treated as quantum wells. In this review, we discuss the synthetic developments, spectroscopic properties, and applications of such nanoplatelets. Covering growth mechanisms, we explain how a thorough understanding of nanoplatelet growth has enabled the development of nanoplatelets and heterostructured nanoplatelets with multiple emission colors, spatially localized excitations, narrow emission, and high quantum yields over a wide spectral range. Moreover, nanoplatelets, with their large lateral extension and their thin short axis and low dielectric surroundings, can support one or several electron-hole pairs with large exciton binding energies. Thus, we also discuss how the relaxation processes and lifetime of the carriers and excitons are modified in nanoplatelets compared to both spherical quantum dots and epitaxial quantum wells. Finally, we explore how nanoplatelets, with their strong and narrow emission, can be considered as ideal candidates for pure-color light emitting diodes (LEDs), strong gain media for lasers, or for use in luminescent light concentrators.

Probing Through-Bond and Through-Space Interactions in Singlet Fission-Based Pentacene Dimers

Interchromophoric interactions such as Coulombic coupling and exchange interactions are crucial to the functional properties of numerous π-conjugated systems. Here, we use magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy to investigate interchromophoric interactions in singlet fission relevant pentacene dimers. Using a simple analytical model, we outline a general relationship between the geometry of pentacene dimers and their calculated MCD response. We analyze experimental MCD spectra of different covalently bridged pentacene dimers to reveal how the molecular structure of the "bridge" affects the magnitude of through-space Coulombic and through-bond exchange interactions in the system. Our results show that through-bond interactions are significant in dimers with conjugated molecules as bridging units and these interactions promote the overall electronic coupling in the system. Our generalized approach paves the way for the application of MCD in investigating interchromophoric interactions across a range of π-conjugated systems.

Exciton Binding Energy in CdSe Nanoplatelets Measured by One- and Two-Photon Absorption

Colloidal semiconductor nanoplatelets exhibit strong quantum confinement for electrons and holes as well as excitons in one dimension, while their in-plane motion is free. Because of the large dielectric contrast between the semiconductor and its ligand environment, the Coulomb interaction between electrons and holes is strongly enhanced. By means of one- and two-photon photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy, we measure the energies of the 1S and 1P exciton states in CdSe nanoplatelets with thicknesses varied from 3 up to 7 monolayers. By comparison with calculations, performed in the effective mass approximation with account of the dielectric enhancement, we evaluate exciton binding energies of 195-315 meV, which is about 20 times greater than that in bulk CdSe. Our calculations of the effective Coulomb potential for very thin nanoplatelets are close to the Rytova-Keldysh model, and the exciton binding energies are comparable with the values reported for monolayer-thick transition metal dichalcogenides.

Orientation of Individual Anisotropic Nanocrystals Identified by Polarization Fingerprint

The polarization of photoluminescence emitted from anisotropic nanocrystals directly reflects the symmetry of the eigenstates involved in the recombination process and can thus be considered as a characteristic feature of a nanocrystal. We performed polarization resolved magneto-photoluminescence spectroscopy on single colloidal Mn²⁺:CdSe/CdS core-shell quantum dots of wurtzite crystal symmetry. At zero magnetic field, a distinct linear polarization pattern is observed, while applying a magnetic field enforces circularly polarized emission with a characteristic saturation value below 100%. These polarization features are shown to act as a specific fingerprint of each individual nanocrystal. A model considering the orientation of the crystal c⃗ axis with respect to the optical axis and the magnetic field and taking into account the impact of magnetic doping is introduced and quantitatively explains our findings. We demonstrate that a careful analysis of the polarization state of single nanocrystal emission using the full set of Stokes parameters allows for identification of the complete three-dimensional orientation of the crystal anisotropy axis of an individual nanoobject in lab coordinates.

Stand-Alone CdS Nanocrystals for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction with High Efficiency and Selectivity

The development of a cost-effective photocatalyst is highly anticipated to achieve efficient photocatalytic CO₂ reduction with superior selectivity, which is still facing the lack of valid settlements. Herein, 4-mercaptopyridine (PD) as the building block of a capping ligand is tightly decorated on the surface of CdS nanocrystals (CdS-PD) using a facile ligand-exchange strategy, to exploit a cost-effective photocatalyst for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction without any cocatalysts. The conjugated structure of PD can facilitate the delocalization of photogenerated electrons in CdS nanocrystals, bringing forth an improved charge separation efficiency. More importantly, N-protonated PD can enable the easy formation of a six-membered ring intermediate with CO₂ assisted by water, which can serve as the efficient active site to achieve photocatalytic CO₂ reduction. In the absence of a cocatalyst, stand-alone CdS-PD nanocrystals exhibit an excellent CO yield of 20.35 mmol g^-1 h^-1 concomitant with a high selectivity of 95.3% for the CO₂-to-CO conversion under visible light, which are remarkably superior than those of CdS nanocrystals possessing traditional alkyl-chain and other conjugated capping ligands.

Topological Spin-Charge Gearbox on a Real Molecular Magnet

In this work, using ab initio many-body theory and inspired by an idea suggested by G. D. Mahan for an abstract N-dimensional chain composed of s-type atoms ( Phys. Rev. Lett. 2009, 102, 016801), we propose a functional topological spin-charge gearbox based on the real synthesized Co₃Ni(EtOH) cluster driven with laser pulses. We analyze the implications arising from the use of a real molecule with d-character functional orbitals rather than an extended system and discuss the role of the point group symmetry of the system and the transferability of the electronic and spin density between different many-body states using specially designed laser pulses. We thus find that first-row transition-metal elements can host unpaired yet correlated d electrons and thus act as sites for spin information carriers, while designated laser pulses induce symmetry operations leading to a realizable spin-charge gearbox.