Gigahertz Frame Rate Imaging of Charge-Injection Dynamics in a Molecular Light Source

verfasst von
Anna Rosławska, Pablo Merino, Christopher C. Leon, Abhishek Grewal, Markus Etzkorn, Klaus Kuhnke, Klaus Kern
Abstract

Light sources on the scale of single molecules can be addressed and characterized at their proper sub-nanometer scale by scanning tunneling microscopy-induced luminescence (STML). Such a source can be driven by defined short charge pulses while the luminescence is detected with sub-nanosecond resolution. We introduce an approach to concurrently image the molecular emitter, which is based on an individual defect, with its local environment along with its luminescence dynamics at a resolution of a billion frames per second. The observed dynamics can be assigned to the single electron capture occurring in the low-nanosecond regime. While the emitter's location on the surface remains fixed, the scanning of the tip modifies the energy landscape for charge injection into the defect. The principle of measurement is extendable to fundamental processes beyond charge transfer, like exciton diffusion.

Externe Organisation(en)
Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung
Université de Strasbourg
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Technische Universität Braunschweig
École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Typ
Artikel
Journal
Nano letters
Band
21
Seiten
4577-4583
Anzahl der Seiten
7
ISSN
1530-6984
Publikationsdatum
09.06.2021
Publikationsstatus
Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Bioengineering, Chemie (insg.), Werkstoffwissenschaften (insg.), Physik der kondensierten Materie, Maschinenbau
Elektronische Version(en)
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c00328 (Zugang: Offen)