Alice Ruini

Exciton binding energies in carbon nanotubes from two-photon photoluminescence

Excitonic effects in the linear and nonlinear optical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes are manifested by photoluminescence excitation experiments and ab initio calculations. One- and two-photon spectra showed a series of exciton states; their energy splitting is the fingerprint of excitonic interactions in carbon nanotubes. By ab initio calculations we determine the energies, wave functions, and symmetries of the excitonic states. Combining experiment and theory we find binding energies of

Excitons in Carbon Nanotubes: An Ab Initio Symmetry-Based Approach

0.3\char21{}0.4\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{eV}

Optical properties of graphene nanoribbons: The role of many-body effects

for nanotubes with diameters between 6.8 and

Solid State Effects on Exciton States and Optical Properties of PPV

9.0\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{\AA{}}

Anchor group versus conjugation: toward the gap-state engineering of functionalized ZnO(1010) surface for optoelectronic applications.

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Exciton-dominated optical response of ultra-narrow graphene nanoribbons

The optical absorption spectrum of the carbon (4,2) nanotube is computed using an ab initio many-body approach which takes into account excitonic effects. We develop a new method involving a local basis set which is symmetric with respect to the screw-symmetry of the tube. Such a method has the advantages of scaling faster than plane-wave methods and allowing for a precise determination of the symmetry character of the single-particle states, two-particle excitations, and selection rules. The binding energy of the lowest, optically active states is approximately 0.8 eV. The corresponding exciton wave functions are delocalized along the circumference of the tube and localized in the direction of the tube axis.

Quantum-dot states and optical excitations in edge-modulated graphene nanoribbons

We investigate from first principles the optoelectronic properties of nanometer-sized armchair graphene nanoribbons GNRs. We show that many-body effects are essential to correctly describe both energy gaps and optical response. As a signature of the confined geometry, we observe strongly bound excitons dominating the optical spectra, with a clear family-dependent binding energy. Our results demonstrate that GNRs constitute one-dimensional nanostructures whose absorption and luminescence performance can be controlled by changing both family and edge termination.

Interchain interaction and Davydov splitting in polythiophene crystals: An ab initio approach

We perform ab initio calculations of optical properties for a typical semiconductor conjugated polymer, poly-para-phenylenevinylene, in both isolated chain and crystalline packing. In order to obtain results for excitonic energies and real-space wave functions we explicitly include electron-hole interaction within the density-matrix formalism. We find that the details of crystalline arrangement crucially affect the optical properties, leading to a richer exciton structure and opening nonradiative decay channels. This has implications for the optical activity and optoelectronic applications of polymer films.

Electronics and Optics of Graphene Nanoflakes: Edge Functionalization and Structural Distortions

Molecular sensitization of the single-crystal ZnO (1010) surface through absorption of the catechol chromophore is investigated by means of density functional approaches. The resulting type II staggered interface is recovered in agreement with experiments, and its origin is traced back to the presence of molecular-related states in the gap of metal-oxide electronic structure. A systematic analysis carried out for further catecholate adsorbates allows us to identify the basic mechanisms that dictate the energy position of the gap states. The peculiar level alignment is demonstrated to be originated from the simultaneous interplay among the specific anchoring group, the backbone conjugation, and the lateral functional groups. The picture derived from our results provides efficient strategies for tuning the lineup between molecular and oxide states in hybrid interfaces with potential impact for ZnO-based optoelectronic applications.

Optical Properties and Charge-Transfer Excitations in Edge-Functionalized All-Graphene Nanojunctions

Narrow graphene nanoribbons exhibit substantial electronic bandgaps and optical properties fundamentally different from those of graphene. Unlike graphene--which shows a wavelength-independent absorbance for visible light--the electronic bandgap, and therefore the optical response, of graphene nanoribbons changes with ribbon width. Here we report on the optical properties of armchair graphene nanoribbons of width N=7 grown on metal surfaces. Reflectance difference spectroscopy in combination with ab initio calculations show that ultranarrow graphene nanoribbons have fully anisotropic optical properties dominated by excitonic effects that sensitively depend on the exact atomic structure. For N=7 armchair graphene nanoribbons, the optical response is dominated by absorption features at 2.1, 2.3 and 4.2 eV, in excellent agreement with ab initio calculations, which also reveal an absorbance of more than twice the one of graphene for linearly polarized light in the visible range of wavelengths.