# Ultrafast optical nanoscopy of carrier dynamics in silicon nanowires Source: [Ultrafast optical nanoscopy of carrier dynamics in silicon nanowires]() Collection index: [llms.txt]() Data updated: 2025-10-25T04:36:55.870Z Authors: Jingang Li, Rundi Yang, Yoonsoo Rho, Penghong Ci, Matthew Eliceiri, Hee K. Park, Junqiao Wu, Costas P. Grigoropoulos Published: 2022-08-23T22:32:14.000Z ## Abstract Carrier distribution and dynamics in semiconductor materials often govern their physical properties that are critical to functionalities and performance in industrial applications. The continued miniaturization of electronic and photonic devices calls for tools to probe carrier behavior in semiconductors simultaneously at the picosecond time and nanometer length scales. Here, we report pump-probe optical nanoscopy in the visible-near-infrared spectral region to characterize the carrier dynamics in silicon nanostructures. By coupling experiments with the point-dipole model, we resolve the size-dependent photoexcited carrier lifetime in individual silicon nanowires. We further demonstrate local carrier decay time mapping in silicon nanostructures with a sub-50 nm spatial resolution. Our study enables the nanoimaging of ultrafast carrier kinetics, which will find promising applications in the future design of a broad range of electronic, photonic, and optoelectronic devices. ## Recorded benchmark results A research result applies to its stated dataset, split, metric and evaluation configuration. Compare like-for-like settings, preserve the metric's unit and direction, and distinguish paper-reported results from independent reproduction. The best result recorded here is not a claim of exhaustive, current global coverage. ## Original sources and implementation [Original paper]() [PDF]()