Photoelectron spectroscopy of color centers in negatively charged cesium iodide nanocrystals

Colloidal Synthesis of CsX Nanocrystals (X = Cl, Br, I)

A facile colloidal synthesis of highly ionic cesium halide nanocrystals is reported. Colloidal nanocrystals of CsI, CsCl and CsBr with unprecedentedly small dimensions are obtained using oleylammonium halides and cesium oleate as precursors. The ease and adaptability of our method enables its universalization for the formation of other highly ionic nanocrystals.

Off-center Tl and Na dopant centers in CsI

We use density functional theory calculations to characterize the electronic and structural properties of the Tl and Na dopant centers in CsI. We find that the Tl and Na centers can accept one or two electrons and couple to long-range relaxations in the surrounding crystal lattice to distort strongly off-center to multiple distinct minima, even without a triplet excitation. The long-range distortions are a mechanism to couple to phonon modes in the crystal, and are expected to play an important role in the phonon-assisted transport of polarons in activated CsI and subsequent light emission in this scintillator.

Electronic excitation and thermal effects in alkali-halide cluster anions

We have observed electronically excited states in alkali-halide cluster anions with one excess electron. Using photoelectron spectroscopy, we have found two narrow states in (KI)-2, (NaI)-2, and (NaCl)-2, consistent with a dipole-bound electron, while larger cluster anions exhibit a single broad excited state. In the larger systems, electronic excitation is often accompanied by vibrational excitation and thus a change in cluster temperature. Such temperature changes affect cluster structure and in some cases lead to rapid thermal isomerization.