Power-law carrier dynamics in semiconductor nanocrystals at nanosecond time scales

TL;DR

This paper reports the observation of power-law fluorescence decay in semiconductor nanocrystals over nanosecond to microsecond scales, linking it to blinking behavior and challenging existing diffusion-based models.

Contribution

It demonstrates power-law dynamics in nanocrystal fluorescence over a wide time range and compares this behavior to blinking, providing new insights into nanocrystal photophysics.

Findings

Power-law decay observed from 10 ns to 10 s.

Power-law coefficient remains stable over nine decades.

Comparison links fluorescence decay to blinking behavior.

Abstract

We report the observation of power law dynamics on nanosecond to microsecond time scales in the fluorescence decay from semiconductor nanocrystals, and draw a comparison between this behavior and power-law fluorescence blinking from single nanocrystals. The link is supported by comparison of blinking and lifetime data measured simultaneously from the same nanocrystal. Our results reveal that the power law coefficient changes little over the nine decades in time from 10 ns to 10 s, in contrast with the predictions of some diffusion based models of power law behavior.