Table 1.

Molar extinction coefficients (per mol of molecules or nanocrystals) of common photoabsorbers, including molecular dyes, direct bandgap semiconductors, and reported photothermal materials.

Photoabsorber	Dimension (nm)	Molar Extinction Coefficient (M−1 cm−1)	Wavelength (nm)
Rhodamine 6G42	Molecular	1.2 × 105	530
Malachite Green42	Molecular	1.5 × 105	617
CdX (X = S, Se, Te)43	r = 2	~ 2 − 5 × 105	At excitonic maximum
Carbon Nanotubes4	r = 0.6, L = 150	7.9 × 106	808
Copper Selenide	r = 8	7.7 × 107	970
Gold Nanospheres44	r = 20	~7.7 × 109	530
Gold Nanorods45	r = 5, L = 27	1.9 × 109	650
Gold Nanoshells46	r1 = 55, r2 = 65	~2 × 1011	800