2026-10-12T23:59:59Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34025335 2026-09-29T17:14:17Z category_1 category_4 category_146 category_915 category_7 category_21 category_873 category_113 portal_63 item_type_6 month_year_09_2026

Ultrafast Relaxation and Charge Transfer in ZnO-Ag Nanoheterodimers Julien Burgin (1685062) Benoit Dacosta Fernandes (25138147) Ivan Shupyk (2195275) Marie-Hélène Delville (1723426) Jean-Pierre Delville (6288296) Pierre Langot (1685059) Jean Oberlé (1894267) Biophysics Biochemistry Space Science Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified Medicine Biotechnology Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified Plasma Physics observed morphological dependence measured rate constants interfacial recombination sites carrier diffusion paths scale relaxation channels enhance charge separation ag contact area spherical zno particles ultrafast relaxation charge transfer varies opposite specific picosecond shorter rods semiconducting components results reveal optofluidic approach isolated components interesting prospects injected electrons findings demonstrate energy conversion decay times critical role combining plasmonic carriers within ag nanoheterodimers By combining plasmonic and semiconducting components, metal/semiconductor nanosystems offer unique opportunities to enhance charge separation and energy transfer across interfaces, with interesting prospects in photocatalysis, energy conversion, and photodetection. We report the synthesis of ZnO-Ag nanoheterodimers (NHDs) based on an optofluidic approach that controls the photodeposition of single silver nanodots onto ZnO nanoparticles of controlled morphology and size. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy reveals efficient charge transfer from Ag to ZnO, accompanied by NHD-specific picosecond-scale relaxation channels with decay times of 1–2 ps, distinct from the electron–phonon relaxation and electron–hole recombination observed in the isolated components. Our results reveal the importance of morphology: NHDs based on longer ZnO nanorods exhibit slower dynamics than those based on shorter rods or spherical ZnO particles. The observed morphological dependence does not originate from a change in the ZnO-Ag contact area, which varies opposite to the measured rate constants, but instead reflects geometric confinement of carriers within the ZnO domain: in smaller NHDs, both injected electrons and residual holes remain spatially close to interfacial recombination sites. These findings demonstrate the critical role of ZnO morphology and carrier diffusion paths to the metal–semiconductor contact in tuning charge relaxation dynamics in nanostructures. 2026-09-29T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 10.1021/acs.jpcc.6c03700.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Ultrafast_Relaxation_and_Charge_Transfer_in_ZnO-Ag_Nanoheterodimers/34025335 CC BY-NC 4.0