Ultrafast Symmetry Control in Photoexcited Quantum Dots.

Symmetry control is essential for realizing unconventional properties, such as ferroelectricity, nonlinear optical responses, and complex topological order, thus it holds promise for the design of emerging quantum and photonic systems. Nevertheless, fast and reversible control of symmetry in materials remains a challenge, especially for nanoscale systems. Here, reversible symmetry changes are unveiled in colloidal lead chalcogenide quantum dots on picosecond timescales.

Coupling to octahedral tilts in halide perovskite nanocrystals induces phonon-mediated attractive interactions between excitons.

Understanding the origin of electron-phonon coupling in lead halide perovskites is key to interpreting and leveraging their optical and electronic properties. Here we show that photoexcitation drives a reduction of the lead-halide-lead bond angles, a result of deformation potential coupling to low-energy optical phonons. We accomplish this by performing femtosecond-resolved, optical-pump-electron-diffraction-probe measurements to quantify the lattice reorganization occurring as a result of photoexcitation in nanocrystals of FAPbBr.

Dynamic lattice distortions driven by surface trapping in semiconductor nanocrystals.

Nonradiative processes limit optoelectronic functionality of nanocrystals and curb their device performance. Nevertheless, the dynamic structural origins of nonradiative relaxations in such materials are not understood. Here, femtosecond electron diffraction measurements corroborated by atomistic simulations uncover transient lattice deformations accompanying radiationless electronic processes in colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals.

Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics of Colloidal Gold Nanocrystals Monitored by Ultrafast Electron Diffraction and Optical Scattering Microscopy.

Metal nanocrystals exhibit important optoelectronic and photocatalytic functionalities in response to light. These dynamic energy conversion processes have been commonly studied by transient optical probes to date, but an understanding of the atomistic response following photoexcitation has remained elusive. Here, we use femtosecond resolution electron diffraction to investigate transient lattice responses in optically excited colloidal gold nanocrystals, revealing the effects of nanocrystal size and surface ligands on the electron-phonon coupling and thermal relaxation dynamics.

Resolving and Controlling Photoinduced Ultrafast Solvation in the Solid State.

Solid-state solvation (SSS) is a solid-state analogue of solvent-solute interactions in the liquid state. Although it could enable exceptionally fine control over the energetic properties of solid-state devices, its molecular mechanisms have remained largely unexplored. We use ultrafast transient absorption and optical Kerr effect spectroscopies to independently track and correlate both the excited-state dynamics of an organic emitter and the polarization anisotropy relaxation of a small polar dopant embedded in an amorphous polystyrene matrix.

Uncovering Single-Molecule Photophysical Heterogeneity of Bright, Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters Dispersed in Glassy Hosts.

Recently developed all-organic emitters used in display applications achieve high brightness by harvesting triplet populations via thermally activated delayed fluorescence. The photophysical properties of these emitters therefore involve new inherent complexities and are strongly affected by interactions with their host material in the solid state. Ensemble measurements occlude the molecular details of how host-guest interactions determine fundamental properties such as the essential balance of singlet oscillator strength and triplet harvesting.

Exciton dynamics reveal aggregates with intermolecular order at hidden interfaces in solution-cast organic semiconducting films.

Large-scale organic electronics manufacturing requires solution processing. For small-molecule organic semiconductors, solution processing results in crystalline domains with high charge mobility, but the interfaces between these domains impede charge transport, degrading device performance. Although understanding these interfaces is essential to improve device performance, their intermolecular and electronic structure is unknown: they are smaller than the diffraction limit, are hidden from surface probe techniques, and their nanoscale heterogeneity is not typically resolved using X-ray methods.