Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Upon femtosecond laser irradiation, a bright, broadband photoluminescence is observed from graphene at frequencies well above the excitation frequency. Analyses show that it arises from radiative recombination of a broad distribution of nonequilibrium electrons and holes, generated by rapid scattering between photoexcited carriers within tens of femtoseconds after the optical excitation. Its highly unusual characteristics come from the unique electronic and structural properties of graphene.