We report on the study of polarization properties of light propagating through transparent wood (TW), which is an anisotropically scattering medium, and consider two cases: completely polarized and totally unpolarized light. It was demonstrated that scattered light distribution is affected by the polarization state of incident light. Scattering is the most efficient for light polarized parallel to cellulose fibers. Furthermore, unpolarized light becomes partially polarized (with a polarization degree of 50%) after propagating through the TW. In the case of totally polarized incident light, however, the degree of polarization of transmitted light is decreased, in an extreme case to a few percent, and reveals an unusual angular dependence on the material orientation. The internal hierarchical complex structure of the material, in particular cellulose fibrils organized in lamellae, is believed to be responsible for the change of the light polarization degree. It was demonstrated that the depolarization properties are determined by the angle between the polarization of light and the wood fibers, emphasizing the impact of their internal structure, unique for different wood species.

The treatment of time-resolved (TR) photoluminescence (PL) decay kinetics is analysed in details and illustrated by experiments on semiconductor quantum dots, namely silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs). We consider the mono-, stretch- and multi-exponential as well as lognormal (LN) and some complex decay models for continuous and discrete distribution of rates (lifetimes). A particular attention is devoted to the thorough analysis of non-exponential decay kinetics. We explicitly show that a LN distribution of emitter sizes may results in LN distribution of decay rates. On the other hand, the distribution of rates cannot be, strictly speaking, Levy stable distribution (that results in the stretched-exponential decay). We introduce theoretical background and derive expressions to calculate the average decay lifetimes for some common decays with practical examples of their applications. Experimental aspects are discussed with special attention devoted to the major problems of the accurate TR PL data treatment, including background uncertainty, pulse duration, system response function etc. Finally, a thorough literature survey of TR PL in Si NCs is given. The methods and definitions outlined in this systematic review are applicable to various other material systems with slow decay like rare-earth and transition metal-doped materials, amorphous semiconductors, type-II heterostructures, singlet oxygen phosphorescence etc.

Analytical formulas for the ON- and OFF-time distributions as well as for the autocorrelation function were derived for the case of single molecule translocation through nanopore arrays. The obtained time-dependent expressions describe very well experimentally recorded statistics of DNA translocations through an array of solid state nanopores, which allows us to extract molecule and system related physical parameters from the experimental traces. The necessity of non-stationary analysis as opposite to the steady-state approximation has been vindicated for the molecule capture process, where different time-dependent regimes were identified. A long tail in the distribution of translocation times has been rationalized invoking Markov jumps, where a possible sequential ordering of events was elucidated through autocorrelation function analysis. Published under license by AIP Publishing.

Photostability has been a major issue for perovskite materials. Understanding the photodegradation mechanism and suppressing it are of central importance for applications. By investigating single-dot photoluminescence spectra and the lifetime of MAPbX(3) (MA = CH3NH3+, X = Br, I) nanocrystals with quantum confinement under different conditions, we identified two separate pathways in the photodegradation process. The first is the oxygen-assisted light-induced etching process (photochemistry). The second is the light-driven slow charge-trapping process (photophysics), taking place even in oxygen-free environment. We clarified the role of oxygen in the photodegradation process and show how the photoinduced etching can be successfully suppressed by OSTE polymer, preventing an oxygen-assisted reaction.

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites simultaneously possess strong spin- orbit coupling (SOC) and structure inversion asymmetry, establishing a Rashba effect to influence light emission and photovoltaics. Here, we use mechanical bending as a convenient approach to investigate the Rashba effect through SOC in perovskite (MAPbI(3-x)Cl(x)) films by elastically deforming grains. It is observed that applying a concave bending can broaden the line shape of the magnetophotocurrent, increasing the internal magnetic parameter B-0 from 121 to 205 mT, which indicates an enhancement on SOC. Interestingly, the PL lifetime is found to be enlarged from 9.9 to 14.8 ns under this bending, which suggests that introducing compressive strain can essentially increase the Rashba effect through SOC, leading to an increase upon indirect band transition. Furthermore, the PL peak associated with the Rashba effect is shifted from 776 to 780 nm under this mechanical bending. Therefore, mechanical bending provides a convenient experimental method to approach the Rashba effect in hybrid perovskites.

We demonstrate all-optical intensity modulation in integrated PMMA optical waveguides doped with silicon quantum dots. The 1550 nm probe signal is absorbed by free carriers excited in silicon quantum dots with 405 nm pump light.

Silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) are formed by implanting 70 keV Si+ into a SiO2-film and subsequent thermal annealing. SiNP samples are further annealed in forming gas. Another group of samples containing SiNP is implanted by 7.5 keV H+ and subsequently annealed in N2-atmosphere at 450 °C to reduce implantation damage. Nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) is employed to establish depth profiles of the H-concentration. Enhanced hydrogen concentrations are found close to the SiO2surface, with particularly high concentrations for the as-implanted SiO2. However, no detectable uptake of hydrogen is observed by NRA for samples treated by forming gas annealing (FGA). H-concentrations detected after H-implantation follow calculated implantation profiles. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy is performed at room temperature to observe the SiNP PL. Whereas FGA is found to increase PL under certain conditions, i.e., annealing at high temperatures, increasing implantation fluence of H reduces the SiNP PL. Hydrogen implantation also introduces additional defect PL. After low-temperature annealing, the SiNP PL is found to improve, but the process is not found equivalently efficient as conventional FGA.

Transparent wood (TW) is a biocomposite material with hierarchical structure, which exhibits high optical transmittance and anisotropic light scattering. Here, the relation between anisotropic scattering and the internal structure of transparent wood is experimentally studied and the dependence of scattering anisotropy on material thickness, which characterizes the fraction of ballistic photons in the propagating light, is shown. The limitations of the conven-tional haze, as it is implemented to isotropic materials, are discussed, and a modified characteristic parameter of light scattering—the degree of aniso-tropic scattering is defined. This parameter together with the transport mean free path value is more practical and convenient for characterization of the material scattering properties. It is believed that the generic routine described in this paper can be applied for scattering characterization and comparison of other TW materials of either different thickness, optical quality or based on various wood species.

Oxygen with a kinetic energy of 20 keV is implanted in a silicon wafer (100) at different fluences, followed by post-implantation thermal annealing (PIA) performed at temperatures ranging from 1000 to 1200 degrees C, in order to form luminescent silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) and also to reduce the damage induced by the implantation. As a result of this procedure, a surface SiOx layer (with 0 < x < 2) with embedded crystalline Si nanoparticles has been created. The samples yield similar luminescence in terms of peak wavelength, lifetime, and absorption as recorded from SiNPs obtained by the more conventional method of implanting silicon into silicon dioxide. The oxygen implantation profile is characterized by elastic recoil detection (ERD) technique to obtain the excess concentration of Si in a presumed SiO2 environment. The physical structure of the implanted Si wafer is examined by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD). Photoluminescence (PL) techniques, including PL spectroscopy, time-resolved PL (TRPL), and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectroscopy are carried out in order to identify the PL origin. The results show that luminescent SiNPs are formed in a Si sample implanted by oxygen with a fluence of 2 x 10(17) atoms cm(-2) and PIA at 1000 degrees C. These SiNPs have a broad size range of 6-24 nm, as evaluated from the GIXRD result. Samples implanted at a lower fluence and/or annealed at higher temperature show only weak defect-related PL. With further optimization of the SiNP luminescence, the method may offer a simple route for integration of luminescent Si in mainstream semiconductor fabrication.