Light-heat conversion dynamics in highly diversified water-dispersed hydrophobic nanocrystal assemblies.

ABSTRACT: We investigate, with a combination of ultrafast optical spectroscopy and semiclassical modeling, the photothermal properties of various water-soluble nanocrystal assemblies. Broadband pump-probe experiments with ∼100-fs time resolution in the visible and near infrared reveal a complex scenario for their transient optical response that is dictated by their hybrid composition at the nanoscale, comprising metallic (Au) or semiconducting ([Formula: see text]) nanostructures and a matrix of organic ligands. We track the whole chain of energy flow that starts from light absorption by the individual nanocrystals and subsequent excitation of out-of-equilibrium carriers followed by the electron-phonon equilibration, occurring in a few picoseconds, and then by the heat release to the matrix on the 1

SUBMITTER: Mazzanti A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6486718 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature