title: Experimental determination of single CdSe nanowire absorption cross sections through photothermal imaging.
abstract: Absorption cross sections ((sigma)abs) of single branched CdSe nanowires (NWs) have been measured by photothermal heterodyne imaging (PHI). Specifically, PHI signals from isolated gold nanoparticles (NPs) with known cross sections were compared to those of individual CdSe NWs excited at 532 nm. This allowed us to determine average NW absorption cross sections at 532 nm of (sigma)abs = (3.17 +/- 0.44) x 10(-11) cm2/microm (standard error reported). This agrees well with a theoretical value obtained using a classical electromagnetic analysis ((sigma)abs = 5.00 x 10(-11) cm2/microm) and also with prior ensemble estimates. Furthermore, NWs exhibit significant absorption polarization sensitivities consistent with prior NW excitation polarization anisotropy measurements. This has enabled additional estimates of the absorption cross section parallel ((sigma)abs) and perpendicular ((sigma)abs(perpendicular) to the NW growth axis, as well as the corresponding NW absorption anisotropy ((rho)abs). Resulting values of (sigma)abs = (5.6 +/- 1.1) x 10(-11) cm2/microm, (sigma)abs(perpendicular) = (1.26 +/- 0.21) x 10(-11) cm2/microm, and (rho)abs = 0.63+/- 0.04 (standard errors reported) are again in good agreement with theoretical predictions. These measurements all indicate sizable NW absorption cross sections and ultimately suggest the possibility of future direct single NW absorption studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, 251 Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Giblin
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Banning
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuno
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hartland
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D019187:Cadmium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D057054:Molecular Imaging; D053770:Nanowires / Q000737:chemistry*; D018036:Selenium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D019187:Cadmium Compounds; D018036:Selenium Compounds; D006046:Gold; C058667:cadmium selenide