Nano Express
Ultrafast hole carrier relaxation dynamics in p-type CuO nanowires
1 Research Center of Ultrafast Science, Department of Physics, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus
2 Nanostructured Materials and Devices Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science Group, School of Engineering, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus
Nanoscale Research Letters 2011, 6:622 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-6-622
Published: 7 December 2011Abstract
Ultrafast hole carrier relaxation dynamics in CuO nanowires have been investigated using transient absorption spectroscopy. Following femtosecond pulse excitation in a non-collinear pump-probe configuration, a combination of non-degenerate transmission and reflection measurements reveal initial ultrafast state filling dynamics independent of the probing photon energy. This behavior is attributed to the occupation of states by photo-generated carriers in the intrinsic hole region of the p-type CuO nanowires located near the top of the valence band. Intensity measurements indicate an upper fluence threshold of 40 μJ/cm2 where carrier relaxation is mainly governed by the hole dynamics. The fast relaxation of the photo-generated carriers was determined to follow a double exponential decay with time constants of 0.4 ps and 2.1 ps. Furthermore, time-correlated single photon counting measurements provide evidence of three exponential relaxation channels on the nanosecond timescale.
