Photoluminescence and electronic transitions in cubic silicon nitride.

A spectroscopic study of cubic silicon nitride (γ-Si3N4) at cryogenic temperatures of 8 K in the near IR - VUV range of spectra with synchrotron radiation excitation provided the first experimental evidence of direct electronic transitions in this material. The observed photoluminescence (PL) bands were assigned to excitons and excited and centers formed after the electron capture by neutral structural defects. The excitons are weakly quenched on neutral and strongly on charged defects. The fundamental band-gap energy of 5.05 ± 0.05 eV and strong free exciton binding energy ~0.65 eV were determined. The latter value suggests a high efficiency of the electric power transformation in light in defect-free crystals. Combined with a very high hardness and exceptional thermal stability in air, our results indicate that γ-Si3N4 has a potential for fabrication of robust and efficient photonic emitters.

Spectral properties of the surface plasmon resonance and electron injection from gold nanoparticles to TiO2 mesoporous film: femtosecond study.

Transient absorption spectra of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) embedded in mesoporous TiO2 film were studied by a femtosecond laser photolysis pump-probe technique using 25 fs pulses at 740 nm (1.68 eV) and a low fluence of 24 µJ cm(-2). The shift of the bleaching peak in transient spectra by ∼100 meV is detected in the AuNP-TiO2 system, whereas the bleaching peak shift of the same AuNPs in aqueous colloids is not more than ∼5 meV. In addition to the thermal mechanism of the nonlinear response of AuNPs connecting with the electron gas heating and the smearing effect of the Fermi distribution, the electron transfer between AuNPs and TiO2 becomes important for the nonlinear response, in addition to the electron heating mechanism. The electron transfer can explain both the spectral shift and widening of the SPR band of AuNPs in TiO2.

Novel nanostructured pHEMA-TiO2 hybrid materials with efficient light-induced charge separation.

We report on a new approach to the fabrication of an electronic material: organic-inorganic pHEMA-oxo-TiO(2) hybrid with efficient light-induced separation of charges. Particular attention is paid to the material nanoscale morphology. The size-selected 5.0 nm titanium oxo-alkoxy nanoparticles are prepared in a sol-gel reactor with rapid (turbulent) fluid micromixing and the ligand exchange results in a stable nanoparticulate precursor in HEMA solution, in which polymerization can be induced thermally or by photons. The obtained hybrid materials demonstrate the highest quantum yield of photoinduced charge separation of 50% and can store photoinduced electrons at a number density above 10% Ti atoms.