Prof Laura Herz FRS

Abstract:

Terahertz photonics is a rapidly growing field. The ultra-fast dynamics of charge carriers in semiconductors is closely linked to the performance of THz photonic devices. We study a range of ion-implanted and nano-scale semiconductors for application in novel terahertz devices.

Abstract:

We have investigated the conductivity of equilibrium and photoexcited electrons in nanoporous Indium phosphide (InP) of various porosities and of two orientations: (100) and (111). We observed an enhanced transmission through the nanoporous samples compared with bulk InP, resulting from a suppression of the conductivity by the pores. The frequency-dependent conductivity was extracted numerically from the transmission data. We examined the dynamical conductivity of photoexcited carriers using optical-pump THz-probe spectroscopy. After the rapid photoexcitation of electrons, the time-resolved conductivity was observed to decay slowly, with carrier recombination lifetimes exceeding 1ns for all (100)- and (111)-oriented samples.

Abstract:

A study is presented on how encapsulation of conjugated polymer chains affects the motion of photoexcitations and the formation of interchain aggregates in solid films. It is shown that threading of a poly(diphenylene vinylene) backbone inside insulating cyclodextrins (rotaxination) and/or complexation of the chains with poly(ethylene oxide) are effective means of preventing the diffusion of excitons to nonradiative defect sites. Ultrafast time-resolved photoluminescence data reveal that excitation transfer between encapsulated chains is still possible and, for the case of rotaxination, is likely to be facilitated through close packing of end groups belonging to adjacent chains. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.