Exciton dynamics of colloidal semiconductor quantum well stacks

Colloidal semiconductor nanoplatelets (NPLs) have recently emerged as a new class of colloidal nanocrystals. NPLs are quasi two-dimensional nanocrystals having atomically flat surfaces and have unique properties such as narrow photoluminescence (PL) emission (∼10 nm) and giant oscillator strength. NPLs can be self-assembled into stacks. These are one-dimensional superstructures that can contain tens or hundreds of NPLs in one chain. We studied how stacking modifies the optical properties of NPLs. We found that PL quantum yield and exciton lifetime are reduced with increased degree of stacking in NPL ensembles. Moreover, we showed that temperature-dependent behavior of stacked NPLs is significantly different than the nonstacked ones. We developed two statistical models that account for the ultra-fast nonradiative energy transfer within stacked NPL chains as well as nonemissive subpopulation of NPLs in the ensemble to explain the aforementioned changes when NPLs are stacked.