In a world-first, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have captured an image showing the internal orbits, or spatial distribution, of particles in an exciton – a goal that had eluded scientists for almost a century.
Excitons are excited states of matter found within semiconductors – a class of materials that are key to many modern technological devices, such as solar cells, LEDs, lasers and smartphones.
“Excitons are really unique and interesting particles; they are electrically neutral which means they behave very differently within materials from other particles like electrons. Their presence can really change the way a material responds to light,” said Dr. Michael Man, co-first author and staff scientist in the OIST Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit. [Read more…] about Scientists capture first ever image of an electron’s orbit within an exciton