ABSTRACT
In nanomaterials increasingly important phenomena affecting the optical properties are quasiparticle excitations related to the excitons. This chapter reviews important features of the exciton optics followed from experimental data and interpretations mostly based on simplified models. Accurate interpretation of exciton spectra of nanomaterials is based on modern many-body first principles theories. Coupling of light with surface excitons has received considerable attention in the literature. Experimentally surface exciton polaritons have been excited and detected using the attenuated total reflection arrangement. Single-wall carbon nanotubes represent one of the best known materials for the study of exciton photophysics, both from a theoretical and experimental viewpoint. Energy structure of excitons in quantum dot (QD) was calculated by using effective mass approximation. The electron and hole quantum confinement energies and their wave functions are found in the framework of the multiband effective mass approximation. Multiexciton effects in optical properties of QDs are extensively studied.
