Temperature-Dependent Amplified Spontaneous Emission in CsPbBr3 Thin Films Deposited by Single-Step RF-Magnetron Sputtering.

Due to their high optical efficiency, low-cost fabrication and wide variety in composition and bandgap, halide perovskites are recognized nowadays as real contenders for the development of the next generation of optoelectronic devices, which, among others, often require high quality over large areas which is readily attainable by vacuum deposition. Here, we report the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) properties of two CsPbBr3 films obtained by single-step RF-magnetron sputtering from a target containing precursors with variable compositions. Both the samples show ASE over a broad range of temperatures from 10 K up to 270 K. The ASE threshold results strongly temperature dependent, with the best performance occurring at about 50 K (down to 100 µJ/cm2), whereas at higher temperatures, there is evidence of thermally induced optical quenching. The observed temperature dependence is consistent with exciton detrapping up to about 50 K. At higher temperatures, progressive free exciton dissociation favors higher carrier mobility and increases trapping at defect states with consequent emission reduction and increased thresholds. The reported results open the way for effective large-area, high quality, organic solution-free deposited perovskite thin films for optoelectronic applications, with a remarkable capability to finely tune their physical properties.

Multifunctional Polymer Nanofibers: UV Emission, Optical Gain, Anisotropic Wetting, and High Hydrophobicity for Next Flexible Excitation Sources.

The use of UV light sources is highly relevant in many fields of science, being directly related to all those detection and diagnosis procedures that are based on fluorescence spectroscopy. Depending on the specific application, UV light-emitting materials are desired to feature a number of opto-mechanical properties, including brightness, optical gain for being used in laser devices, flexibility to conform with different lab-on-chip architectures, and tailorable wettability to control and minimize their interaction with ambient humidity and fluids. In this work, we introduce multifunctional, UV-emitting electrospun fibers with both optical gain and greatly enhanced anisotropic hydrophobicity compared to films. Fibers are described by the onset of a composite wetting state, and their arrangement in uniaxial arrays further favors liquid directional control. The low gain threshold, optical losses, plastic nature, flexibility, and stability of these UV-emitting fibers make them interesting for building light-emitting devices and microlasers. Furthermore, the anisotropic hydrophobicity found is strongly synergic with optical properties, reducing interfacial interactions with liquids and enabling smart functional surfaces for droplet microfluidic and wearable applications.

Electrospun amplified fiber optics.

All-optical signal processing is the focus of much research aiming to obtain effective alternatives to existing data transmission platforms. Amplification of light in fiber optics, such as in Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, is especially important for efficient signal transmission. However, the complex fabrication methods involving high-temperature processes performed in a highly pure environment slow the fabrication process and make amplified components expensive with respect to an ideal, high-throughput, room temperature production. Here, we report on near-infrared polymer fiber amplifiers working over a band of ∼20 nm. The fibers are cheap, spun with a process entirely carried out at room temperature, and shown to have amplified spontaneous emission with good gain coefficients and low levels of optical losses (a few cm(-1)). The amplification process is favored by high fiber quality and low self-absorption. The found performance metrics appear to be suitable for short-distance operations, and the large variety of commercially available doping dyes might allow for effective multiwavelength operations by electrospun amplified fiber optics.

Bright Light Emission and Waveguiding in Conjugated Polymer Nanofibers Electrospun from Organic Salt Added Solutions.

Light-emitting electrospun nanofibers of poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-( N,N '-diphenyl)- N,N '-di(p-butyl-oxy-phenyl)-1,4-diaminobenzene)] (PFO-PBAB) are produced by electrospinning under different experimental conditions. In particular, uniform fibers with average diameter of 180 nm are obtained by adding an organic salt to the electrospinning solution. The spectroscopic investigation assesses that the presence of the organic salt does not alter the optical properties of the active material, therefore providing an alternative approach for the fabrication of highly emissive conjugated polymer nanofibers. The produced nanofibers display self-waveguiding of light, and polarized photoluminescence, which is especially promising for embedding active electrospun fibers in sensing and nanophotonic devices.

Fluorescent asymmetrically cobalt-tipped CdSe@CdS core@shell nanorod heterostructures exhibiting room-temperature ferromagnetic behavior.

A colloidal two-step seeded-growth approach has been devised to selectively synthesize three-component magnetic/semiconductor hybrid nanocrystals (HNCs) with a matchstick-like profile and tunable geometric parameters. The newly developed heterostructures individually comprise a single metallic Co head connected to either apexes of one rod-shaped section made of a CdSe core eccentrically embedded in a CdS shell. The specific topological arrangement realized arises from the peculiar anisotropic reactivity of the noncentrosymmetric CdSe@CdS core@shell nanorods that have been used as substrates to seed heterogeneous nucleation of Co in a surfactant-free environment from an organometallic precursor. The HNCs retain appreciable fluorescent emission in spite of photoexcited charge transfer from the semiconductor to the metal domain and exhibit unusual ferromagnetic-like behavior at room temperature.

CdSe/CdS/ZnS double shell nanorods with high photoluminescence efficiency and their exploitation as biolabeling probes.

We report the synthesis, the structural and optical characterization of CdSe/CdS/ZnS "double shell" nanorods and their exploitation in cell labeling experiments. To synthesize such nanorods, first "dot-in-a-rod" CdSe(dot)/CdS(rod) core/shell nanocrystals were prepared. Then a ZnS shell was grown epitaxially over these CdSe/CdS nanorods, which led to a fluorescence quantum yield of the final core-shell-shell nanorods that could be as high as 75%. The quantum efficiency was correlated with the aspect ratio of the nanorods and with the thickness of the ZnS shell around the starting CdSe/CdS rods, which varied from 1 to 4 monolayers (as supported by a combination of X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis). Pump-probe and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements confirmed the reduction of trapping at CdS surface due to the presence of the ZnS shell, which resulted in more efficient photoluminescence. These double shell nanorods have potential applications as fluorescent biological labels, as we found that they are brighter in cell imaging as compared to the starting CdSe/CdS nanorods and to the CdSe/ZnS quantum dots, therefore a lower amount of material is required to label the cells. Concerning their cytotoxicity, according to the MTT assay, the double shell nanorods were less toxic than the starting core/shell nanorods and than the CdSe/ZnS quantum dots, although the latter still exhibited a lower intracellular toxicity than both nanorod samples.

Tetrapod-shaped colloidal nanocrystals of II-VI semiconductors prepared by seeded growth.

We report a general synthetic approach to tetrapod-shaped colloidal nanocrystals made of various combinations of II-VI semiconductors. Uniform tetrapods were prepared using preformed seeds in the sphalerite structure, onto which arms were grown by coinjection of the seeds and chemical precursors into a hot mixture of surfactants. By this approach, a wide variety of core materials could be chosen (in practice, most of the II-VI semiconductors that could be prepared in the sphalerite phase, namely, CdSe, ZnTe, CdTe); in contrast, the best materials for arm growth were CdS and CdTe. The samples were extensively characterized with the aid of several techniques.

Synthesis and micrometer-scale assembly of colloidal CdSe/CdS nanorods prepared by a seeded growth approach.

Key limitations of the colloidal semiconductor nanorods that have been reported so far are a significant distribution of lengths and diameters as well as the presence of irregular shapes produced by the current synthetic routes and, finally, the poor ability to fabricate large areas of oriented nanorod arrays. Here, we report a seeded-growth approach to the synthesis of asymmetric core-shell CdSe/CdS nanorods with regular shapes and narrow distributions of rod diameters and lengths, the latter being easily tunable up to 150 nm. These rods are highly fluorescent and show linearly polarized emission, whereby the emission energy depends mainly on the core diameter. We demonstrate their lateral alignment as well as their vertical self-alignment on substrates up to areas of several square micrometers.