Evidence of Direct Exciton Polaron Formation upon Photoexcitation in Wurtzite ZnO.
- 1Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York14627, United States.
Abstract
This paper extends the investigation of direct photoexcitation into polaronic states within transition metal oxide materials to ZnO, which has long been understood to form strongly bound excitons even at room temperature. The extent to which these excitons couple to the lattice to form exciton polarons and the nature of this coupling are less clear. Evidence for direct photoexcitation into polaronic states has been reported recently for several transition metal oxides; however, these investigations have been limited to electron or hole polarons. Here, we apply a combination of resonance Raman and temperature-dependent absorption and emission spectroscopies supported by phonon calculations to investigate exciton-phonon coupling in wurtzite ZnO thin films. We find that the A1 (LO) and E1 (LO) phonons exhibit strong coupling to excitonic transitions. These data are consistent with the direct excitation of intrinsic exciton polarons via coupling to thermally populated phonons within a pristine ZnO lattice.
Related
- Computational assessment of a proposed Na+/Ag+ ion-exchange route to Ag2MgSiO4, a predicted wurtzite-derived silver silicate
- Strong Evidence for Formation of Hydroxyl Anion via 2-Particle-1-Hole Feshbach Resonances
- Transitional Band Gaps During Polarization Switching in Wurtzite Ferroelectrics
- Computational assessment, against criteria specified in advance, of a Na+/Ag+ ion-exchange route to Ag2MgSiO4, a predicted wurtzite-derived silver silicate
- Optical Ceiling on Polaron Mobility in Disordered Molecular Semiconductors: Lessons from Eumelanin
BibTeX
@article{craddock2026evidence,
title = {{Evidence of Direct Exciton Polaron Formation upon Photoexcitation in Wurtzite ZnO.}},
author = {Erica P Craddock and Kathryn E Knowles},
journal = {The journal of physical chemistry letters},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1021/acs.jpclett.6c02424},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42917774},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Evidence of Direct Exciton Polaron Formation upon Photoexcitation in Wurtzite ZnO.
AU - Erica P Craddock
AU - Kathryn E Knowles
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - The journal of physical chemistry letters
DO - 10.1021/acs.jpclett.6c02424
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42917774
AB - This paper extends the investigation of direct photoexcitation into polaronic states within transition metal oxide materials to ZnO, which has long been understood to form strongly bound excitons even at room temperature. The extent to which these excitons couple to the lattice to form exciton polarons and the nature of this coupling are less clear. Evidence for direct photoexcitation into polaronic states has been reported recently for several transition metal oxides; however, these investigations have been limited to electron or hole polarons. Here, we apply a combination of resonance Raman and temperature-dependent absorption and emission spectroscopies supported by phonon calculations to investigate exciton-phonon coupling in wurtzite ZnO thin films. We find that the A1 (LO) and E1 (LO) phonons exhibit strong coupling to excitonic transitions. These data are consistent with the direct excitation of intrinsic exciton polarons via coupling to thermally populated phonons within a pristine ZnO lattice.
SN - 1948-7185
ER -