Excitonic and Vibrational Dynamics in Nanotechnology

Investigating QDs and SWCNTs using quantum-chemical calculations that describe intricate details of excited state phenomena, this volume provides information about the mechanisms that occur on the atomic level and that are extremely difficult--if not impossible--to probe experimentally. It delivers, consistently and coherently, a novel approach to the nanomaterials that is promising for today's technologies as well as their future. This approach elegantly overcomes computational difficulties known in the field and shares ways to reach top performance in description of combined quantum effects of molecular vibrations and exciton formation on the realistic size numerical models.

The book investigates QDs and SWCNTs using quantum-chemical calculations that describe intricate details of excited-state phenomena and provides information about the mechanisms that occur on the atomic level and that are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to probe experimentally. It delivers, consistently and coherently, a novel approach to nanomaterials which is promising for today's technologies as well as their future. This approach elegantly overcomes computational difficulties known in the field and shares ways to reach top performance in the description of combined quantum effects of molecular vibrations and exciton formation on realistic-size numerical models. The reader will acquire an understanding of the pioneering methodology supported by most recent original results, prospectively applicable to the design of new nano-devices.

Common Features of Low-Dimensional NanomaterialsIntriguing Phenomena in Quantum Dots and Potential ApplicationsAdvantages and Challenges of Technological Applications of Carbon NanotubesExcitonic Character and Numerical Approaches to QDs and SWCNTs Electronic Structure and Phonon-Induced Carrier Relaxation in CdSe and PbSe Quantum Dots:Carrier Dynamics in Quantum DotsTrajectory Surface Hopping in the Density Functional TheoryResults and DiscussionConclusionsExcitonic and Vibrational Properties of Single-Walled Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes:IntroductionComputational ESMD MethodologyResults and DiscussionConclusions

Svetlana Kilina received her BSc and MSc in physics from Belarus State University in 1996 and taught physics to both college and high school students in Belarus, including preparing gifted children to compete in the National Physics Olympics. She then spent three years at Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany as a research assistant studying transport properties of disordered interacting electrons. After coming to the United States in 2000, she was employed as a math and science tutor at the University of Oregon. From 2003, she has been pursuing a PhD in physical chemistry at the University of Washington. During her PhD studies, she has also had an opportunity to work as a graduate research assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, getting internships for summer 2005 and spring/summer 2006 and 2007. Her research focuses on photoinduced electron-phonon dynamics in nanoscale systems, such as quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, conjugated polymers and DNA materials.