Efficient charge generation by relaxed charge-transfer states at organic interfaces

Koen Vandewal; Steve N. Albrecht; Eric T. Hoke; Kenneth Graham; Johannes Widmer; Jessica D. Douglas; Marcel Schubert; William R. Mateker; Jason T. Bloking; George F. Burkhard; Alan Sellinger; Jean Frechet; Aram Amassian; Moritz Kilian Riede; Michael D. McGehee; Dieter Neher; Alberto Salleo

doi:10.1038/nmat3807

Efficient charge generation by relaxed charge-transfer states at organic interfaces

Koen Vandewal, Steve N. Albrecht, Eric T. Hoke, Kenneth Graham, Johannes Widmer, Jessica D. Douglas, Marcel Schubert, William R. Mateker, Jason T. Bloking, George F. Burkhard, Alan Sellinger, Jean Frechet, Aram Amassian, Moritz Kilian Riede, Michael D. McGehee, Dieter Neher, Alberto Salleo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

667 Scopus citations

Abstract

Interfaces between organic electron-donating (D) and electron-accepting (A) materials have the ability to generate charge carriers on illumination. Efficient organic solar cells require a high yield for this process, combined with a minimum of energy losses. Here, we investigate the role of the lowest energy emissive interfacial charge-transfer state (CT1) in the charge generation process. We measure the quantum yield and the electric field dependence of charge generation on excitation of the charge-transfer (CT) state manifold via weakly allowed, low-energy optical transitions. For a wide range of photovoltaic devices based on polymer:fullerene, small-molecule:C60 and polymer:polymer blends, our study reveals that the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) is essentially independent of whether or not D, A or CT states with an energy higher than that of CT1 are excited. The best materials systems show an IQE higher than 90% without the need for excess electronic or vibrational energy. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	63-68
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature Materials
Volume	13
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3807
State	Published - Nov 17 2013

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: This publication was supported by the Center for Advanced Molecular Photovoltaics (Award No KUS-C1-015-21) and the Department of Energy, Laboratory Directed Research and Development funding, under contract DE-AC02-76SF00515. The PCDTBT used in this work was provided by St-Jean Photochemicals. M. K. R. acknowledges financial support by the BMBF through project 03IP602 and J. W. acknowledges support from the Heinrich-Boll-Stiftung. S.A. and M.S. acknowledge financial support by the BMBF within PVcomB (FKZ 03IS2151D) and the DFG (SPP 1355). D.N. thanks the DFG for financially supporting a travel grant. K.R.G. and A.A. acknowledge SABIC for a post-doctoral fellowship. The authors thank J. Kurpiers for technical assistance with the TDCF set-up.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Mechanics of Materials
General Materials Science
General Chemistry
Mechanical Engineering
Condensed Matter Physics

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1038/nmat3807

Cite this

Vandewal, K., Albrecht, S. N., Hoke, E. T., Graham, K., Widmer, J., Douglas, J. D., Schubert, M., Mateker, W. R., Bloking, J. T., Burkhard, G. F., Sellinger, A., Frechet, J., Amassian, A., Riede, M. K., McGehee, M. D., Neher, D., & Salleo, A. (2013). Efficient charge generation by relaxed charge-transfer states at organic interfaces. Nature Materials, 13(1), 63-68. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3807

@article{7f3a1178cef14db99f981e0cf62b5c79,

title = "Efficient charge generation by relaxed charge-transfer states at organic interfaces",

abstract = "Interfaces between organic electron-donating (D) and electron-accepting (A) materials have the ability to generate charge carriers on illumination. Efficient organic solar cells require a high yield for this process, combined with a minimum of energy losses. Here, we investigate the role of the lowest energy emissive interfacial charge-transfer state (CT1) in the charge generation process. We measure the quantum yield and the electric field dependence of charge generation on excitation of the charge-transfer (CT) state manifold via weakly allowed, low-energy optical transitions. For a wide range of photovoltaic devices based on polymer:fullerene, small-molecule:C60 and polymer:polymer blends, our study reveals that the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) is essentially independent of whether or not D, A or CT states with an energy higher than that of CT1 are excited. The best materials systems show an IQE higher than 90% without the need for excess electronic or vibrational energy. {\textcopyright} 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.",

author = "Koen Vandewal and Albrecht, {Steve N.} and Hoke, {Eric T.} and Kenneth Graham and Johannes Widmer and Douglas, {Jessica D.} and Marcel Schubert and Mateker, {William R.} and Bloking, {Jason T.} and Burkhard, {George F.} and Alan Sellinger and Jean Frechet and Aram Amassian and Riede, {Moritz Kilian} and McGehee, {Michael D.} and Dieter Neher and Alberto Salleo",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledgements: This publication was supported by the Center for Advanced Molecular Photovoltaics (Award No KUS-C1-015-21) and the Department of Energy, Laboratory Directed Research and Development funding, under contract DE-AC02-76SF00515. The PCDTBT used in this work was provided by St-Jean Photochemicals. M. K. R. acknowledges financial support by the BMBF through project 03IP602 and J. W. acknowledges support from the Heinrich-Boll-Stiftung. S.A. and M.S. acknowledge financial support by the BMBF within PVcomB (FKZ 03IS2151D) and the DFG (SPP 1355). D.N. thanks the DFG for financially supporting a travel grant. K.R.G. and A.A. acknowledge SABIC for a post-doctoral fellowship. The authors thank J. Kurpiers for technical assistance with the TDCF set-up.",

year = "2013",

month = nov,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1038/nmat3807",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "13",

pages = "63--68",

journal = "Nature Materials",

issn = "1476-1122",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "1",

}

Vandewal, K, Albrecht, SN, Hoke, ET, Graham, K, Widmer, J, Douglas, JD, Schubert, M, Mateker, WR, Bloking, JT, Burkhard, GF, Sellinger, A, Frechet, J, Amassian, A, Riede, MK, McGehee, MD, Neher, D & Salleo, A 2013, 'Efficient charge generation by relaxed charge-transfer states at organic interfaces', Nature Materials, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 63-68. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3807

TY - JOUR

T1 - Efficient charge generation by relaxed charge-transfer states at organic interfaces

AU - Vandewal, Koen

AU - Albrecht, Steve N.

AU - Hoke, Eric T.

AU - Graham, Kenneth

AU - Widmer, Johannes

AU - Douglas, Jessica D.

AU - Schubert, Marcel

AU - Mateker, William R.

AU - Bloking, Jason T.

AU - Burkhard, George F.

AU - Sellinger, Alan

AU - Frechet, Jean

AU - Amassian, Aram

AU - Riede, Moritz Kilian

AU - McGehee, Michael D.

AU - Neher, Dieter

AU - Salleo, Alberto

N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledgements: This publication was supported by the Center for Advanced Molecular Photovoltaics (Award No KUS-C1-015-21) and the Department of Energy, Laboratory Directed Research and Development funding, under contract DE-AC02-76SF00515. The PCDTBT used in this work was provided by St-Jean Photochemicals. M. K. R. acknowledges financial support by the BMBF through project 03IP602 and J. W. acknowledges support from the Heinrich-Boll-Stiftung. S.A. and M.S. acknowledge financial support by the BMBF within PVcomB (FKZ 03IS2151D) and the DFG (SPP 1355). D.N. thanks the DFG for financially supporting a travel grant. K.R.G. and A.A. acknowledge SABIC for a post-doctoral fellowship. The authors thank J. Kurpiers for technical assistance with the TDCF set-up.

PY - 2013/11/17

Y1 - 2013/11/17

N2 - Interfaces between organic electron-donating (D) and electron-accepting (A) materials have the ability to generate charge carriers on illumination. Efficient organic solar cells require a high yield for this process, combined with a minimum of energy losses. Here, we investigate the role of the lowest energy emissive interfacial charge-transfer state (CT1) in the charge generation process. We measure the quantum yield and the electric field dependence of charge generation on excitation of the charge-transfer (CT) state manifold via weakly allowed, low-energy optical transitions. For a wide range of photovoltaic devices based on polymer:fullerene, small-molecule:C60 and polymer:polymer blends, our study reveals that the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) is essentially independent of whether or not D, A or CT states with an energy higher than that of CT1 are excited. The best materials systems show an IQE higher than 90% without the need for excess electronic or vibrational energy. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

AB - Interfaces between organic electron-donating (D) and electron-accepting (A) materials have the ability to generate charge carriers on illumination. Efficient organic solar cells require a high yield for this process, combined with a minimum of energy losses. Here, we investigate the role of the lowest energy emissive interfacial charge-transfer state (CT1) in the charge generation process. We measure the quantum yield and the electric field dependence of charge generation on excitation of the charge-transfer (CT) state manifold via weakly allowed, low-energy optical transitions. For a wide range of photovoltaic devices based on polymer:fullerene, small-molecule:C60 and polymer:polymer blends, our study reveals that the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) is essentially independent of whether or not D, A or CT states with an energy higher than that of CT1 are excited. The best materials systems show an IQE higher than 90% without the need for excess electronic or vibrational energy. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/563088

UR - http://www.nature.com/articles/nmat3807

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84890485782&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/nmat3807

DO - 10.1038/nmat3807

M3 - Article

C2 - 24240240

SN - 1476-1122

VL - 13

SP - 63

EP - 68

JO - Nature Materials

JF - Nature Materials

IS - 1

ER -

Efficient charge generation by relaxed charge-transfer states at organic interfaces

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this