Publication date: 15th December 2025
Colloidal nanocrystals of III/V composition have gained increasing interest for replacing heavy metal-dominated technologies in the long wavelength (near - to mid-infrared) spectrum today, such as photo-detectors (often still based on PbS) or light-emitting diodes (dominated by PbS and HgX). Here, I will present a suite of non-standard ultrafast spectroscopy tools suitable to explore the fastest events in these materials which still struggle to develop e.g. efficient stimulated emission of light. Using for example state-selective pump-probe, we can identify clear signatures of shallow trap states in close agreement with improved theoretical modeling. Next to this, I will present our recent efforts to implement continuum infrared spectroscopy, both as a toolbox to unravel ultrafast processes in III/V - but also many more - NCs, but also as a new platform to quanitfy intra-band transitions in these materials - a potentially new avenue for their future in NC-based opto-electronics.
