Simple surface-trap-filling model for photoluminescence blinking spanning entire CdSe quantum wires

The mechanism for synchronous photoluminescence intensity fluctuations, blinking, spanning entire micrometer-long CdSe quantum wires (Glennon, J. J.; Tang, R.; Buhro, W. E.; Loomis, R. A. Nano Lett. 2007, 7, 3290) is likely different than that commonly cited for semiconductor quantum dots. We present a simple model for the intensity blinking in quantum wires that is based on the dynamic, transient filling of surface-trap sites by photogenerated excitons and the emptying of these occupied trap sites. The model implements a kinetic Monte Carlo scheme and a dynamic photoluminescence quantum yield that depends on the fraction of trap sites filled. When A majority of the surface traps are filled, one-dimensional excitons are formed and a high emission efficiency. Autocorrelation analysis of both experiment and simulation reveal the nonergodic kinetics governing the blinking phenomenon.