Dynamics of exciton localization in CdS/HgS quantum-dot quantum wells

Localization of carrier wave functions to the quantum-well portion of the CdS/HgS quantum-dot quantum well (QDQW) is investigated. Nanosecond hole-burning (HB) spectra measure the photoinduced exciton coupling to a ${250-\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{\mathrm{-}1}$ HgS phonon mode indicative of localization. Femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy of these QDQW, however, show the photoinduced exciton couples to coherent ${300-\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{\mathrm{-}1}$ CdS longitudinal optical-phonon modes, which is indicative of delocalization throughout the QDQW.  Femtosecond HB and three pulse pump-dump experiments reveal these results are dependent on the time scale of the experiment. These experiments indicate that the initially photoexcited electron and hole wave functions are weakly confined to the HgS monolayer. Only after long times (∼400 fs) will the exciton localize to the HgS well. These results indicate that the primary optical interaction excites electrons from a delocalized QDQW ground state and not from a localized HgS well state.