3351wileyonlinelibrary.com for the monolayer. Hence, the monolayer, contrary to bi-and multilayers, behaves like a direct gap semiconductor and shows signifi cant fl uorescence. [ 11,12 ] The exciton binding energy for bulk MoS 2 has been determined to be 45 and 130 meV for the A and B excitons, respectively. [ 13 ] Both exciton binding energies increase upon decreasing the sample thickness, with estimates for monolayer [14][15][16] ranging from 0.4 to 0.9 eV. Despite this high exciton binding energy, monolayer MoS 2 shows a strong photovoltaic effect [ 17 ] and potential for high sensitivity photodetectors. [ 18 ] Both these functionalities require effi cient charge carrier photogeneration (CPG), either via direct excitation of mobile carriers or via exciton dissociation.The spectral signature of charge carriers has been identifi ed by absorption and fl uorescence spectroscopy of MoS 2 , where the charge concentration varies either via the gate voltage in an FET geometry [ 19 ] or via adsorption, [ 20 ] or substrate doping. [ 21 ] The absorption peaks of charges are red-shifted by about 40 meV compared with the ground-state absorption into the A and B excitons and have been attributed to optical transitions from a charged ground state to a charged exciton (trion). The possibility of alternative interpretations, such as polarons [ 22,23 ] or Stark effect in the local electric fi eld of the charges, [24][25][26] does The 2D semiconductor MoS 2 in its mono-and few-layer form is expected to have a signifi cant exciton binding energy of several 100 meV, suggesting excitons as the primary photoexcited species. Nevertheless, even single layers show a strong photovoltaic effect and work as the active material in high sensitivity photodetectors, thus indicating effi cient charge carrier photogeneration. Here, modulation spectroscopy in the sub-ps and ms time scales is used to study the photoexcitation dynamics in few-layer MoS 2 . The results suggest that the primary photoexcitations are excitons that effi ciently dissociate into charges with a characteristic time of 700 fs. Based on these fi ndings, simple suggestions for the design of effi cient MoS 2 photovoltaic and photodetector devices are made.

Graphene nanoribbons display extraordinary optical properties due to one-dimensional quantum-confinement, such as width-dependent bandgap and strong electron–hole interactions, responsible for the formation of excitons with extremely high binding energies. Here we use femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy to explore the ultrafast optical properties of ultranarrow, structurally well-defined graphene nanoribbons as a function of the excitation fluence, and the impact of enhanced Coulomb interaction on their excited states dynamics. We show that in the high-excitation regime biexcitons are formed by nonlinear exciton–exciton annihilation, and that they radiatively recombine via stimulated emission. We obtain a biexciton binding energy of ≈250 meV, in very good agreement with theoretical results from quantum Monte Carlo simulations. These observations pave the way for the application of graphene nanoribbons in photonics and optoelectronics.

In oxygenic photosynthetic eukaryotes, the hydroxylated carotenoid zeaxanthin is produced from preexisting violaxanthin upon exposure to excess light conditions. Zeaxanthin binding to components of the photosystem II (PSII) antenna system has been investigated thoroughly and shown to help in the dissipation of excess chlorophyll-excited states and scavenging of oxygen radicals. However, the functional consequences of the accumulation of the light-harvesting complex I (LHCI) proteins in the photosystem I (PSI) antenna have remained unclarified so far. In this work we investigated the effect of zeaxanthin binding on photoprotection of PSI-LHCI by comparing preparations isolated from wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana (i.e., with violaxanthin) and those isolated from the A. thaliana nonphotochemical quenching 2 mutant, in which violaxanthin is replaced by zeaxanthin. Time-resolved fluorescence measurements showed that zeaxanthin binding leads to a previously unrecognized quenching effect on PSI-LHCI fluorescence. The efficiency of energy transfer from the LHCI moiety of the complex to the PSI reaction center was down-regulated, and an enhanced PSI resistance to photoinhibition was observed both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, zeaxanthin was shown to be effective in inducing dissipative states in PSI, similar to its well-known effect on PSII. We propose that, upon acclimation to high light, PSI-LHCI changes its light-harvesting efficiency by a zeaxanthin-dependent quenching of the absorbed excitation energy, whereas in PSII the stoichiometry of LHC antenna proteins per reaction center is reduced directly.photosynthesis | xanthophylls | violaxanthin de-epoxidase | photobleaching

We show the ultrafast photodoping and plasmon dynamics of the near-infrared (NIR) localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of fluorine-indium codoped cadmium oxide (FICO) nanocrystals (NCs). The combination of high temporal resolution and broad spectral coverage allowed us to model the transient absorption (TA) spectra in terms of the Drude model, verifying the increase in carrier density upon ultrafast photodoping. Our analysis also suggests that a change in carrier effective mass takes place upon LSPR excitation as a result of the nonparabolic conduction band of the doped semiconductor with a consequently high signal response. Both findings are combined in this new type of plasmonic material. The combination of large transmission modulation with modest pump powers and ultrafast recombination times makes our results interesting for all-optical signal processing at optical communication wavelengths. At the same time, our results also give insights into the physical mechanisms of ultrafast photodoping and LSPR tuning of degenerately doped semiconductor NCs.

Theory predicts peculiar features for excited-state dynamics in one dimension (1D) that are difficult to be observed experimentally. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are an excellent approximation to 1D quantum confinement, due to their very high aspect ratio and low density of defects. Here we use ultrafast optical spectroscopy to probe photogenerated charge-carriers in (6,5) semiconducting SWNTs. We identify the transient energy shift of the highly polarizable S33 transition as a sensitive fingerprint of charge-carriers in SWNTs. By measuring the coherent phonon amplitude profile we obtain a precise estimate of the Stark-shift and discuss the binding energy of the S33 excitonic transition. From this, we infer that charge-carriers are formed instantaneously (<50 fs) even upon pumping the first exciton, S11. The decay of the photogenerated charge-carrier population is well described by a model for geminate recombination in 1D.

We report the first demonstration of a solution processable, optically switchable 1D photonic crystal which incorporates phototunable doped metal oxide nanocrystals. The resulting device structure shows a dual optical response with the photonic bandgap covering the visible spectral range and the plasmon resonance of the doped metal oxide the near infrared. By means of a facile photodoping process, we tuned the plasmonic response and switched effectively the optical properties of the photonic crystal, translating the effect from the near infrared to the visible. The ultrafast bandgap pumping induces a signal change in the region of the photonic stopband, with recovery times of several picoseconds, providing a step toward the ultrafast optical switching. Optical modeling uncovers the importance of a complete modeling of the variations of the dielectric function of the photodoped material, including the high frequency region of the Drude response which is responsible for the strong switching in the visible after photodoping. Our device configuration offers unprecedented tunability due to flexibility in device design, covering a wavelength range from the visible to the near infrared. Our findings indicate a new protocol to modify the optical response of photonic devices by optical triggers only.

We introduce a scheme for the generation of tunable few-optical-cycle UV pulses based on sum-frequency generation between a broadband visible pulse and a narrowband pulse ranging from the visible to the near-IR. This configuration generates broadband UV pulses tunable from 0.3 to 0.4 μm, with energy up to 1.5 μJ. By exploiting nonlinear phase transfer, transform-limited pulse durations are achieved. Full characterization of the UV pulse spectral phase is obtained by two-dimensional spectral shearing interferometry, which is here extended to the UV spectral range. We demonstrate clean 8.4 fs UV pulses.

We investigate the nature of the S* excited state in carotenoids by performing a series of pump–probe experiments with sub-20 fs time resolution on spirilloxanthin in a polymethyl-methacrylate matrix varying the sample temperature. Following photoexcitation, we observe sub-200 fs internal conversion of the bright S2 state into the lower-lying S1 and S* states, which in turn relax to the ground state on a picosecond time scale. Upon cooling down the sample to 77 K, we observe a systematic decrease of the S*/S1 ratio. This result can be explained by assuming two thermally populated ground state isomers. The higher lying one generates the S* state, which can then be effectively frozen out by cooling. These findings are supported by quantum chemical modeling and provide strong evidence for the existence and importance of ground state isomers in the photophysics of carotenoids.