Tracking Traveling Excitons

Trapped and tracked. The first images of the motion of an exciton--a particle essential to modern electronics--and a biexciton show that the lighter exciton (right) roams farther. Image Credit: K. Matsuda / Kanagawa Acad. of Science and Tech. and Japan Science and Technology Agency

Researchers have tracked their first exciton. A team of researchers recently reported that they imaged the wave-like motion of the particle, which is essential to the operation of lasers in CD players and grocery scanners. They detected the light of a single trapped exciton and distinguished it from that of a double-particle called a biexciton. The technique may be used in the future to view the wave nature of other nanoscale particles.

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