Capturing Exciton-Proton Collisions in Confined Water

Capturing Exciton-Proton Collisions in Confined Water | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Capturing Exciton-Proton Collisions in Confined Water YuHuang Wang, Ziyi Wang, Jacek Klos, Jacob Fortner This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6521805/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Excitons—electron-hole pairs that dominate the excited states of semiconductors—are exquisitely sensitive to molecules and ions. However, these quasiparticles are prone to environmental noise, limiting their selectivity as chemical probes. Here, we report the first direct observation of exciton-proton collisions in confined water, enabled by a quantum defect “trap-in-a-pore” architecture that isolates excitons from unintended perturbations. When protons encounter excitons, we observe discrete, reversible photoluminescence spectral switching manifested as intensity steps, revealing stochastic proton trapping and de-trapping events at the same defect site. These single-ion traps enable optical interrogation of spectroscopically elusive ions, such as hydrated H+ and D+, and their dynamics at the single-particle level. Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Nanoscale devices Physical sciences/Chemistry/Analytical chemistry/Sensors Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files excitonprotoncollisionsSupplementaryv8revised.pdf Supplementary Information SupplementaryVideo1.gif Supplementary Video 1 SupplementaryVideo2.mp4 Supplementary Video 2 SupplementaryVideo3.mp4 Supplementary Video 3 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6521805","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":598598800,"identity":"aeee8e26-088f-4c9c-8a96-b846990a934a","order_by":0,"name":"YuHuang 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