Direct observation of triplet energy transfer from semiconductor nanocrystals

A different way to put triplets in play Most molecules adopt a singlet spin configuration: All their electrons are arranged in pairs. Unpaired triplet states engage in a variety of useful reactions but are hard to produce. Quantum mechanics dictates that photo-excitation from singlet to triplet states is inefficient. Instead, chemists rely on sensitizers, which populate the triplet states of their neighbors through energy transfer after absorbing light themselves. Mongin et al. now show that certain nanoparticles can act as triplet sensitizers. Science , this issue p. 369