First-order coherence of light emission from inhomogeneously broadened mesoscopic ensembles

Inhomogeneous broadening is well known to hinder individual characteristics of emitters, supplanting the single-particle properties by their broader probability distribution. Here, we present an analysis of the emission spectra of mesoscopic ensembles of inhomogeneously distributed emitters below the thermodynamic limit (101-104 emitters). Based on a simple analytical model and an extensive numerical analysis, we show that the number and individual linewidths of the emitters can be directly estimated from the ensemble autocorrelation function in spite of an inhomogeneously broadened emission. As an application, we analyze the photolumines-cence of colloidal nanocrystal aggregates embedded in a gold shell. Our general method can be applied to a wide range of mesoscopic many-body systems and could provide new insights into their first-order coherence properties.

Automated summary

In this study, we analyze the emission spectra of ensembles of inhomogeneously distributed emitters and demonstrate that the number and linewidths of the emitters can be estimated directly from the autocorrelation function of the ensemble, despite the presence of inhomogeneous broadening. We also apply this method to analyze the photoluminescence of colloidal nanocrystal aggregates.