Emissive brightening in molecular graphene nanoribbons by twilight states

Carbon nanomaterials are expected to be bright and efficient emitters, but structural disorder, intermolecular interactions and the intrinsic presence of dark states suppress their photoluminescence. Here, we study synthetically-made graphene nanoribbons with atomically precise edges and which are d...

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Hoofdauteurs: Sturdza, BK, Kong, F, Yao, X, Niu, W, Feng, X, Riede, M, Bogani, L, Nicholas, R
Formaat: Journal article
Taal:English
Gepubliceerd in: Springer Nature 2024
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author Sturdza, BK
Kong, F
Yao, X
Niu, W
Feng, X
Riede, M
Bogani, L
Nicholas, R
author_facet Sturdza, BK
Kong, F
Yao, X
Niu, W
Feng, X
Riede, M
Bogani, L
Nicholas, R
author_sort Sturdza, BK
collection OXFORD
description Carbon nanomaterials are expected to be bright and efficient emitters, but structural disorder, intermolecular interactions and the intrinsic presence of dark states suppress their photoluminescence. Here, we study synthetically-made graphene nanoribbons with atomically precise edges and which are designed to suppress intermolecular interactions to demonstrate strong photoluminescence in both solutions and thin films. The resulting high spectral resolution reveals strong vibron-electron coupling from the radial-breathing-like mode of the ribbons. In addition, their cove-edge structure produces inter-valley mixing, which brightens conventionally-dark states to generate hitherto-unrecognised twilight states as predicted by theory. The coupling of these states to the nanoribbon phonon modes affects absorption and emission differently, suggesting a complex interaction with both Herzberg–Teller and Franck– Condon coupling present. Detailed understanding of the fundamental electronic processes governing the optical response will help the tailored chemical design of nanocarbon optical devices, via gap tuning and side-chain functionalisation.
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spelling oxford-uuid:04f062e8-d69e-4471-ab55-a8e99317264c2024-05-10T16:43:58ZEmissive brightening in molecular graphene nanoribbons by twilight statesJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:04f062e8-d69e-4471-ab55-a8e99317264cEnglishSymplectic ElementsSpringer Nature2024Sturdza, BKKong, FYao, XNiu, WFeng, XRiede, MBogani, LNicholas, RCarbon nanomaterials are expected to be bright and efficient emitters, but structural disorder, intermolecular interactions and the intrinsic presence of dark states suppress their photoluminescence. Here, we study synthetically-made graphene nanoribbons with atomically precise edges and which are designed to suppress intermolecular interactions to demonstrate strong photoluminescence in both solutions and thin films. The resulting high spectral resolution reveals strong vibron-electron coupling from the radial-breathing-like mode of the ribbons. In addition, their cove-edge structure produces inter-valley mixing, which brightens conventionally-dark states to generate hitherto-unrecognised twilight states as predicted by theory. The coupling of these states to the nanoribbon phonon modes affects absorption and emission differently, suggesting a complex interaction with both Herzberg–Teller and Franck– Condon coupling present. Detailed understanding of the fundamental electronic processes governing the optical response will help the tailored chemical design of nanocarbon optical devices, via gap tuning and side-chain functionalisation.
spellingShingle Sturdza, BK
Kong, F
Yao, X
Niu, W
Feng, X
Riede, M
Bogani, L
Nicholas, R
Emissive brightening in molecular graphene nanoribbons by twilight states
title Emissive brightening in molecular graphene nanoribbons by twilight states
title_full Emissive brightening in molecular graphene nanoribbons by twilight states
title_fullStr Emissive brightening in molecular graphene nanoribbons by twilight states
title_full_unstemmed Emissive brightening in molecular graphene nanoribbons by twilight states
title_short Emissive brightening in molecular graphene nanoribbons by twilight states
title_sort emissive brightening in molecular graphene nanoribbons by twilight states
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