Experimental determination of single CdSe nanowire absorption cross sections through photothermal imaging.

Absorption cross sections ((sigma)abs) of single branched CdSe nanowires (NWs) have been measured by photothermal heterodyne imaging (PHI). Specifically, PHI signals from isolated gold nanoparticles (NPs) with known cross sections were compared to those of individual CdSe NWs excited at 532 nm. This allowed us to determine average NW absorption cross sections at 532 nm of (sigma)abs = (3.