Optical spectroscopy articles within Nature Materials

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  • Article |

    Combining resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and photoluminescence spectroscopy, an elementary excitation in hexagonal-boron-nitride-based single-photon emitters has been demonstrated, giving rise to multiple regular harmonics that can explain the wide frequency range of these emitters.

    • Jonathan Pelliciari
    • , Enrique Mejia
    •  & Gabriele Grosso

  • Research Briefing |

    Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite materials have promise as the photovoltaic technology of the future. A method for spectroscopic optical control reveals how the structural dynamics and vibrations of a perovskite’s organic cations affect the electronic performance of working photovoltaic devices.

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optically stimulated vibrational control for materials has the potential to improve the performance of optoelectronic devices. The vibrational control of FAPbBr3 perovskite solar cells has been demonstrated, where the fast dynamics of coupling between cations and inorganic sublattice may suppress non-radiative recombinations in perovskites, leading to reduced voltage losses.

    • Nathaniel. P. Gallop
    • , Dmitry R. Maslennikov
    •  & Artem A. Bakulin

  • Article |

    Employing a miniaturized spectrometer that combines a metasurface-based spectrometer array and a metalens, angle-resolved spectral imaging is achieved with a wavelength accuracy of 0.17 nm, spectral resolution of 0.40 nm and angular resolution of 4.88 × 10−3 rad for a spectrometer with a 4 × 4 μm2 footprint.

    • Guiyi Cai
    • , Yanhao Li
    •  & Qinghai Song

  • News & Views |

    Quantum dots are engineered to use dopant states to achieve substantially enhanced impact ionization, which is potentially useful for light-harvesting applications.

    • Miri Kazes
    •  & Dan Oron

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carrier multiplication generates multiple excitons for each absorbed photon but is normally limited by fast phonon-assisted relaxation. Here the authors achieve a threefold enhancement in multiexciton yields in Mn-doped PbSe/CdSe quantum dots, due to very fast spin-exchange interactions between Mn ions and the quantum dots that outpace energy losses arising from phonon emission.

    • Ho Jin
    • , Clément Livache
    •  & Victor I. Klimov

  • Letter |

    We report the observation of narrowband terahertz emission from a quasi-one-dimensional charge-density-wave insulator, (TaSe4)2I. The origin of the emitted radiation is interpreted as a phason that obtains mass due to the long-range Coulomb interaction.

    • Soyeun Kim
    • , Yinchuan Lv
    •  & Fahad Mahmood

  • News & Views |

    Spectral shifts in transient photoluminescence measurements performed with a confocal microscope allow tracking of charge carrier mobilities in polycrystalline halide perovskites.

    • Thomas Kirchartz

  • Article |

    A discrepancy exists between the low diffusion coefficients and near-unity charge collection efficiencies achieved in practical halide perovskite solar cells. Here, the authors explain this through the discovery of strong heterogeneity in vertical charge diffusivities in a 3D perovskite film.

    • Changsoon Cho
    • , Sascha Feldmann
    •  & Neil C. Greenham

  • News & Views |

    Understanding, at the atomic level, the effect of the stacking and twisting of different layered two-dimensional materials is a major challenge for the future of twistronics. Optical excitations evidence twist-angle-dependent whirlpool-shaped distortions in such materials.

    • Ado Jorio

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Distinct electronic and optical properties emerge from quantum confinement in low-dimensional materials. Here, combining optical characterization and ab initio calculations, the authors report an unconventional excitonic state and bound phonon sideband in layered silicon diphosphide.

    • Ling Zhou
    • , Junwei Huang
    •  & Hongtao Yuan

  • News & Views |

    Non-fullerene acceptors have successfully overcome energy losses that were thought to be unavoidable in organic solar cells based on fullerene derivatives. However, it is now shown that they have limits too.

    • Justin M. Hodgkiss

  • News & Views |

    Impulsive Raman spectroscopy reveals how atoms are pushed into action by light absorption. The surprising sensitivity of this behaviour to the polaronic character of 2D perovskites opens up new avenues for tailored light–matter interactions.

    • Christoph Schnedermann
    • , Akshay Rao
    •  & Philipp Kukura

  • News & Views |

    Nanostructured films of organic semiconductors are now shown to enhance the Raman signal of probe molecules, paving the way to the realization of substrates for Raman spectroscopy with molecular selectivity.

    • John R. Lombardi

  • News & Views |

    The use of a spectroscopy technique called pump–push–probe electro-absorption provides insight into the energetic landscape of nanostructured donor–acceptor interfaces in bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells.

    • Natalie Banerji

  • Article |

    A pump–push–probe time-resolved technique is developed to characterize the dynamics of photoexcitations at buried, disordered interfaces. Applied to organic bulk heterojunctions, the method provides insight on charge separation in photovoltaic films.

    • Andreas C. Jakowetz
    • , Marcus L. Böhm
    •  & Richard H. Friend

  • News & Views |

    One of the most salient features of hybrid lead halide perovskites is the extended lifetime of their photogenerated charge carriers. This property has now been shown experimentally to originate from a slow, thermally activated recombination process.

    • Jacques-E. Moser

  • News & Views |

    Greater rigidity of conjugated polymer backbones increases their light-harvesting ability, making them better performers in solar-cell applications.

    • John Grey

  • News & Views |

    Giant Rydberg excitons reveal signatures of quantum chaotic behaviour in the presence of time-reversal symmetry breaking enforced by the background solid-state lattice, and they provide a new mesoscopic platform for fundamental studies of quantum chaos.

    • Elena A. Ostrovskaya
    •  & Franco Nori

  • Article |

    Applying an external magnetic field to cuprous oxide causes the energy spacings in the exciton spectrum to transition from a Poissonian distribution to one governed by the Gaussian unitary ensemble statistics, revealing a signature of quantum chaos.

    • Marc Aßmann
    • , Johannes Thewes
    •  & Manfred Bayer

  • News & Views |

    Time-resolved measurements of the exciton dynamics in tungsten diselenide monolayers reveal ultrafast radiative recombination of the exciton ground state (∼150 fs) and the interplay between optically bright and dark excitons.

    • Xavier Marie
    •  & Bernhard Urbaszek

  • News & Views |

    A study on the subtle interplay between electronic structure and structural defects now explains why the suppression of conduction in the insulating state of bilayer graphene is not as strong as might be expected. It also reveals the possibility of creating graphene-based nanoscale systems with unique electronic properties.

    • Philip Hofmann

  • Article |

    Supercapacitors are electrochemical energy-storage devices that take advantage of electrostatic interactions between high-surface-area nanoporous electrodes and electrolyte ions. Molecular mechanisms at work inside supercapacitor carbon electrodes are now clarified with solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance.

    • Michaël Deschamps
    • , Edouard Gilbert
    •  & François Béguin

  • Letter |

    Lumped elements such as resistors, capacitors and inductors play a crucial role in electronic circuits. Now, inspired by metamaterials technology, the experimental realization of lumped circuit elements for optical frequencies provides a standardized platform for applications such as mixing and multiplexing of optical signals.

    • Yong Sun
    • , Brian Edwards
    •  & Nader Engheta

  • News & Views |

    The electronic structure in the bulk of a crystal can be unveiled by hard X-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.

    • Dong-Lai Feng

  • Letter |

    Although X-ray tomography has proven to be an efficient tool for three-dimensional imaging, its application to light materials has not been too successful. A new X-ray spectroscopy tomography method has now been developed that allows the mapping of chemical bonding in various types of structures, as well as the imaging of soft materials in three dimensions.

    • Simo Huotari
    • , Tuomas Pylkkänen
    •  & Keijo Hämäläinen

  • Letter |

    Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a widely used spectroscopic technique, particularly for infrared wavelengths. However, for imaging applications the spatial resolution of FTIR spectrometers is restricted by the diffraction limit. The use of an FTIR spectrometer to pick up the low signal from scanning near-field optical microscopy employing thermal radiation now enables infrared imaging with nanoscale resolution.

    • F. Huth
    • , M. Schnell
    •  & R. Hillenbrand

  • News & Views |

    Tunnelling and capacitance spectroscopies are able to image the wavefunctions of electrons in atom-like solid-state systems as they are shaped by an external magnetic field.

    • Massimo Rontani

  • Letter |

    Using boron nitride as a substrate for graphene has been suggested as a promising way to reduce the disorder in graphene caused by space fluctuations. It is now shown by scanning tunnelling microscopy that graphene conforms perfectly to boron nitride and the charge fluctuations are minimal compared with the conventionally used substrate, silica. Boron nitride could really be the natural graphene substrate.

    • Jiamin Xue
    • , Javier Sanchez-Yamagishi
    •  & Brian J. LeRoy

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