Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1982. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-1390).

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第17595号 / 工博第3754号 / 新制||工||1572(附属図書館) / 30361 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科高分子化学専攻 / (主査)教授 伊藤 紳三郎, 教授 赤木 和夫, 教授 金谷 利治 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

published_or_final_version / abstract / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The light harvesting systems of photosynthetic organisms harness solar energy by efficient light capture and subsequent transport of the light’s energy to a chemical reaction center. Man-made optical devices could benefit by mimicking these naturally occurring light harvesting processes. Supramolecular organic nanostructures, composed of the amphiphilic carbocyanine dye 3,3’-bis- (2-sulfopropyl)-5,5’,6,6’-tetrachloro-1,1’- dioctylbenzimida-carbocyanine (C8S3), self assemble in aqueous solution to form tubular, double-walled J-aggregates. These J-aggregates have drawn comparisons to light harvesting systems, owing to their optical and structural similarities to the cylindrical chlorosomes (antenna) from green sulfur bacteria. This research utilizes optical spectroscopy and microscopy to study the supramolecular origins of the exciton transitions and fundamental nature of exciton energy transport in C8S3 artificial light harvesting systems. Two J-aggregate morphologies are investigated: well-separated, double-walled nanotubes and bundles of agglomerated nanotubes. Linear dichroism spectroscopy of flow-aligned nanotubes is used to generate the first quantitative, polarized model for the complicated C8S3 nanotube excitonic absorption spectrum that is consistent with theoretical predictions. The C8S3 J-aggregate photophysical properties are further explored, as the Stokes shift, quantum yield, and spectral line broadening are measured as a function of temperature from 77 – 298 K. The temperature-dependent emission ratios of the C8S3 J-aggregate two-band fluorescence spectra reveal that nanotube emission is well described with Boltzmann partitioning between states, while the bundles’ is not. Finally, understanding energy transport in these materials is critical for the proposed use of artificial light harvesting systems in optoelectronic devices. The spatial extent of energy transfer in individual C8S3 J- aggregate structures is directly determined using fluorescence imaging. We find that aggregate structural hierarchy greatly influences exciton transport distances: impressive average exciton migration distances of ~ 150 nm are measured along the nanotubes, while these distances increase to over 500 nm in the bundle superstructures. / text

Carbon nanotubes are intriguing materials and extensively studied for both their fundamental properties and extraordinary performance in various applications during the last 20 years. They are extremely small in diameter, light in weight, sensitive to the environment, strong, and chemically stable. They can be either metallic or semiconducting depending on their species. The semiconducting species can absorb and emit light in a wide range of wavelengths. These outstanding properties of carbon nanotubes promise abundant applications that may be revolutionary. The opto-electronic behaviour of a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) is extremely sensitive to its physical structure and ambient environment. Structural defects and surrounding environment are extrinsic influential factors that often obscure the understanding of the intrinsic behaviour. Progress on SWCNT synthesis has been made continuously but not until the last 10 years, have single SWCNTs been isolated individually and from substrates so that their fluorescence can be detected. The fundamental science of an optically generated exciton (an electron-hole pair) in an ideal semiconducting SWCNT is not fully understood despite many studies of exciton behaviour using various optical approaches. The major challenge is controlling SWCNT sample qualities. SWCNT's fundamental properties, such as the absorption cross section, quantum efficiency, radiative and nonradiative lifetimes, remain under debate. Knowing the intrinsic SWCNT properties is essential to understand exciton transport and relaxation mechanisms. To minimize the extrinsic effects, we have selected high-quality unprocessed SWCNTs for investigation. Collaboration with Dr. P. Finnie and Dr. J. Lefebvre at National Research Council Canada, allow us to access pristine SWCNTs individually. Since the emission from a single SWCNT is low, it requires unconventional methods to measure the PL dynamics. Suggested by the results, exciton transport in a semiconducting SWCNT is diffusional at room temperature, with high diffusivity (130 -350 cm^2/s) and long diffusion length (1 - 5 µm). At lower temperatures, we observed a more efficient exciton-exciton interaction that suggests the contribution from hot excitons or a longer existence of delocalized excitons. Highly efficient exciton-exciton annihilation and long coherence time in a SWCNT are promising for making a single-photon source at near-infrared wavelength range and developing quantum computers. / Thesis (Ph.D, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2013-12-06 09:52:51.136

The strong and distinctive excitonic interactions are among one of the most interesting aspects of the newly discovered family of two-dimensional semiconductors, monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC). In this dissertation, we explore two types different types of excitonic states in these materials beyond the isolated exciton in its radiative ground state. In the first part of this thesis, we examine higher-order excitonic states, involving correlations between more than a single electron and hole in the usual configuration of an exciton. In particular, we demonstrate the existence of four-body correlated or biexciton states in monolayer WSe₂. The biexciton is identified as a sharply defined state in photoluminescence spectra at high exciton density. The biexciton binding energy, i.e., the energy required to separate it into to isolated excitons, is found to be 52 meV , which is more than an order of magnitude greater than that in conventional quantum-well structures. Such high binding energy arises not only from the two-dimensional carrier confinement, but also from reduced and non-local dielectric screening. These results open the way for the creation of new correlated excitonic states linking the degenerate valleys in TMDC crystals, as well as more complex many-body states such as exciton condensates or the recently reported dropletons. In the second part of this thesis, two chapters are devoted to the identification and characterization of intrinsic lower-energy dark excitonic states in monolayer WSe₂. These optically forbidden transitions arise from the conduction band spin splitting, which was previously neglected as it only arises from higher-order spin-orbit coupling terms. First, by examining light emission using temperature-dependent photoluminescence and time-resolved photoluminescence, we indirectly probe and identify the existence of dark states that lies ~30 meV below the optically bright states. The presence of the dark state is manifest in pronounced quenching of the bright exciton emission observed at reduced temperature. To extract exact energy levels and actually utilize these dark states, as the second step, we sought direct spectroscopic identification of these states. We achieve this by applying an in-plane magnetic field, which mixes the bright and spin forbidden dark excitons. Both neutral and charged dark excitonic states have been identified in this fashion, and their energy levels are in good agreement with ab-initio calculations using GW-BSE approach. Moreover, due to the protection from their spin structure, much enhanced emission and valley lifetime were observed for these dark states. These studies directly reveal the excitonic spin manifolds in this prototypical two-dimensional semiconductor and provide a new route to control the optical and valley properties of these systems.

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The structure and structural dynamics of hydrogen bonded liquids were studied experimentally and theoretically with coherent two-dimensional infrared (2DIR) spectroscopy. The resonant intermolecular interactions within the fully resonant hydrogen bond networks give access to spatial correlations in the dynamics of the liquid structures. New experimental and theoretical tools were developed that significantly reduced the technical challenges of these studies. A nanofluidic flow device was designed and manufactured providing sub-micron thin, actively stabilized liquid sample layers between similarly thin windows. A simulation protocol for nonlinear vibrational response calculations of disordered fluctuating vibrational excitons was developed that allowed for the first treatment of resonant intermolecular interactions in the 2DIR response of liquid water. The 2DIR spectrum of the O-H stretching vibration of pure liquid water was studied experimentally at different temperatures. At ambient conditions the loss of frequency correlations is extremely fast, and is attributed to very efficient modulations of the two-dimensional O-H stretching vibrational potential through librational motions in the hydrogen bond network. At temperatures near freezing, the librational motions are significantly reduced leading to a pronounced slowing down of spectral diffusion dynamics. Comparison with energy transfer time scales revealed the first direct proof of delocalization of the vibrational excitations. This work establishes a fundamentally new view of vibrations in liquid water by providing a spatial length scale of correlated hydrogen-bond motions. The linear and 2DIR response of the amide I mode in neat liquid formamide was found to be dominated by excitonic effects due to largely delocalized vibrational excitations. The spectral response and dynamics are very sensitive to the excitonic mode structure and infrared activity distributions, leading to a pronounced asymmetry of linear and 2DIR line shapes. This was attributed to structurally different species in the liquid characterized by their degree of medium range structural order. The response is dominated by energy transfer effects, sensitive to time-averaged medium range structural order, while being essentially insensitive to structural dynamics. This work is the first to recognize the importance of energy transfer contributions to the 2DIR response in a liquid, and provides additional proof of the well-structured character of liquid formamide.

The structure and structural dynamics of hydrogen bonded liquids were studied experimentally and theoretically with coherent two-dimensional infrared (2DIR) spectroscopy. The resonant intermolecular interactions within the fully resonant hydrogen bond networks give access to spatial correlations in the dynamics of the liquid structures. New experimental and theoretical tools were developed that significantly reduced the technical challenges of these studies. A nanofluidic flow device was designed and manufactured providing sub-micron thin, actively stabilized liquid sample layers between similarly thin windows. A simulation protocol for nonlinear vibrational response calculations of disordered fluctuating vibrational excitons was developed that allowed for the first treatment of resonant intermolecular interactions in the 2DIR response of liquid water. The 2DIR spectrum of the O-H stretching vibration of pure liquid water was studied experimentally at different temperatures. At ambient conditions the loss of frequency correlations is extremely fast, and is attributed to very efficient modulations of the two-dimensional O-H stretching vibrational potential through librational motions in the hydrogen bond network. At temperatures near freezing, the librational motions are significantly reduced leading to a pronounced slowing down of spectral diffusion dynamics. Comparison with energy transfer time scales revealed the first direct proof of delocalization of the vibrational excitations. This work establishes a fundamentally new view of vibrations in liquid water by providing a spatial length scale of correlated hydrogen-bond motions. The linear and 2DIR response of the amide I mode in neat liquid formamide was found to be dominated by excitonic effects due to largely delocalized vibrational excitations. The spectral response and dynamics are very sensitive to the excitonic mode structure and infrared activity distributions, leading to a pronounced asymmetry of linear and 2DIR line shapes. This was attributed to structurally different species in the liquid characterized by their degree of medium range structural order. The response is dominated by energy transfer effects, sensitive to time-averaged medium range structural order, while being essentially insensitive to structural dynamics. This work is the first to recognize the importance of energy transfer contributions to the 2DIR response in a liquid, and provides additional proof of the well-structured character of liquid formamide.

It is very interesting to probe the rotational symmetry of semiconductor quantum dots for quantum information and quantum computation applications. We studied the effects of rotational symmetry in semiconductor quantum dots using configuration interaction calculation. Moreover, to compare with the experimental data, we studied the effects of hidden symmetry. The 2D single-band model and the 3D single-band model were used to generate the single-particle states. How the spectra affected by the breaking of hidden symmetry and rotational symmetry are discussed. The breaking of hidden symmetry splits the degeneracy of electron-hole single-triplet and triplet-singlet states, which can be clearly seen from the spectra. The breaking of rotational symmetry redistributes the weight percentage, due to the splitting of px and py states, and gives a small brightness to the dark transition, giving rise to asymmetry peaks. The asymmetry peaks of 4X, 5X, and 6X were analyzed numerically. In addition, Auger-like satellites of biexciton recombination were found in the calculation. There is an asymmetry peak of the biexciton Auger-like satellite for the 2D single-band model while no such asymmetry peak occurs for the 3D single-band model. Few-particle effects are needed in order to determine the energy separation of the biexciton main peak and the Auger-like satellite. From the experiments, it was confirmed that the lower emission energy peak of X2-spectrum is split. The competed splitting of the X2- spectra were revealed when temperature dependence was implemented. However, since the splitting is small, we suggest the X2- peaks are broadened in comparison with other configurations according to single-band models. Furthermore, the calculated excitonic emission patterns were compared with experiments. The 2D single-band model fails to give the correct energy order of the peaks for the few-particle spectra; on the other hand the peaks order from 3D single-band model consistent with experimental data.