What plagues quantum upscaling? Most quantum computing devices are dependent on using complex physical phenomena that are either very short-lived (~10-12 seconds) and/or only survive at ultra-low temperatures (e.g., 10-3 ...
Since the realization that a linearly polarized light can create K-K' valley coherent excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) semiconductors back in 2013, it has been a longstanding goal for researchers ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 19, 2023
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The Rydberg state is widespread in a variety of physical platforms such as atoms, molecules, and solids. In particular, Rydberg excitons are highly excited Coulomb-bound states of electron-hole pairs, first discovered in ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 4, 2023
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Excitons are electron-hole pairs in semiconductors that are electrostatically bound by strong Coulombic interactions. In ultrathin 2D semiconductors that are a few atoms thick (typically ~0.7 nm), the decreased z-dimension ...
Condensed Matter
Jun 21, 2023
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When some semiconductors absorb light, excitons (or particle pairs made of an electron bound to an electron hole) can form. Two-dimensional crystals of tungsten disulfide (WS2) have unique exciton states that are not found ...
Condensed Matter
Jun 20, 2023
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Recently, a group of illegal counterfeiters was apprehended for producing around 400 fake luxury jewelry items using molds. They were able to create hundreds of faked luxury items simply after pouring molten metal into molds ...
Analytical Chemistry
Jun 13, 2023
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Take a lattice—a flat section of a grid of uniform cells, like a window screen or a honeycomb—and lay another, similar lattice above it. But instead of trying to line up the edges or the cells of both lattices, give the ...
Condensed Matter
Jun 7, 2023
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University of Washington researchers have discovered they can detect atomic "breathing," or the mechanical vibration between two layers of atoms, by observing the type of light those atoms emitted when stimulated by a laser. ...
Quantum Physics
Jun 1, 2023
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A surprise observation of negative mass in exciton–polaritons has added yet another dimension of weirdness to these strange light-matter hybrid particles.
Optics & Photonics
May 10, 2023
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EPFL engineers have found a way to control the interactions between excitons—quasiparticles that may one day transport data and replace the electrons in electronic devices. The engineers' method involves applying an electric ...
Condensed Matter
May 9, 2023
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An exciton is a bound state of an electron and hole which are attracted to each other by the electrostatic Coulomb force. It is an electrically neutral quasiparticle that exists in insulators, semiconductors and some liquids. The exciton is regarded as an elementary excitation of condensed matter that can transport energy without transporting net electric charge.
An exciton forms when a photon is absorbed by a semiconductor. This excites an electron from the valence band into the conduction band. In turn, this leaves behind a localized positively-charged hole (holes actually don't exist, the term is an abstraction for the location an electron moved from; they have no charge in and of themselves). The electron in the conduction band is then attracted to this localized hole by the Coulomb force. This attraction provides a stabilizing energy balance. Consequently, the exciton has slightly less energy than the unbound electron and hole. The wavefunction of the bound state is said to be hydrogenic, an exotic atom state akin to that of a hydrogen atom. However, the binding energy is much smaller and the particle's size much larger than a hydrogen atom. This is because of both the screening of the Coulomb force by other electrons in the semiconductor ( i.e., its dielectric constant), and the small effective masses of the excited electron and hole. The recombination of the electron and hole, i.e. the decay of the exciton, is limited by resonance stabilization due to the overlap of the electron and hole wave functions, resulting in an extended lifetime for the exciton.
The electron and hole may have either parallel or anti-parallel spins. The spins are coupled by the exchange interaction, giving rise to exciton fine structure. In periodic lattices, the properties of exciton show momentum (k-vector) dependence.
The concept of excitons was first proposed by Yakov Frenkel in 1931, when he described the excitation of atoms in a lattice of insulators. He proposed that this excited state would be able to travel in a particle-like fashion through the lattice without the net transfer of charge.
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