Morphology effectively controls singlet-triplet exciton relaxation and charge transport in organic semiconductors

Controlling Interchromophore Coupling in Diamantane-Linked Pentacene Dimers To Create a "Binary" Pair

Two isomeric pentacene dimers, each linked by a diamantane spacer, have been synthesized. These dimers are designed to provide experimental evidence to support quantum mechanical calculations, which predict the substitution pattern on the carbon-rich diethynyldiamantane spacer to be decisive in controlling the interpentacene coupling. Intramolecular singlet fission (i-SF) serves as a probe for the existence and strength of the electronic coupling between the two pentacenes, with transient absorption spectroscopy as the method of choice to characterize i-SF. 4,9-Substitution of diamantane provides a pentacene dimer (4,9-dimer) in which the two chromophores are completely decoupled and that, following photoexcitation, deactivates to the ground state analogous to a monomeric pentacene chromophore. Conversely, 1,6-substitution provides a pentacene dimer (1,6-dimer) that exhibits sufficiently strong coupling to drive i-SF, resulting in correlated triplet M(T1T1) yields close to unity and free triplet (T1 + T1) yields of ca. 50%. Thus, the diamantane spacer effectively switches "on" or "off" the coupling between the chromophores, based on the substitution pattern. The binary control of diamantane contrasts other known molecular spacers designed only to modulate the coupling strength between two pentacenes.

Multiexcitonic and optically bright states in subunits of pentacene crystals: A hybrid DFT/MRCI and molecular mechanics study

A hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics setup was used to model electronically excited pentacene in the crystal phase. Particularly interesting in the context of singlet fission (SF) is the energetic location of the antiferromagnetically coupled multiexcitonic singlet state, 1(TT), and the ferromagnetically coupled analog in relation to the optically bright singlet state. To provide photophysical properties of the accessible spin manifold, combined density functional theory and multi-reference configuration interaction calculations were performed on pentacene dimers and a trimer, electrostatically embedded in the crystal. The likelihood of a quintet intermediate in the SF process was estimated by computing singlet-quintet electron spin-spin couplings employing the Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian. The performance of the applied methods was assessed on the pentacene monomer. The character of the optically bright state and the energetic location of the 1(TT) state depend strongly on the relative orientation of the pentacene units. In the V-shaped dimers and in the trimer, the optically bright state is dominated by local and charge transfer (CT) excitations, with admixtures of doubly excited configurations. The CT excitations gain weight upon geometry relaxation, thus supporting a CT-mediated SF mechanism as the primary step of the SF process. For the slip-stacked dimer, the energetic order of the bright and the 1(TT) states swaps upon geometry relaxation, indicating strong nonadiabatic coupling close to the Franck-Condon region-a prerequisite for a coherent SF process. The multiexcitonic singlet, triplet, and quintet states are energetically too far apart and their spin-spin couplings are too small to bring about a noteworthy multiplicity mixing.

Measuring Intermolecular Excited State Geometry for Favorable Singlet Fission in Tetracene

Singlet fission (SF) is the process of converting an excited singlet to a pair of excited triplets. Harvesting two charges from a single photon has the potential to increase photovoltaic device efficiencies. Acenes, such as tetracene and pentacene, are model molecules for studying SF. Despite SF being an endoergic process for tetracene and exoergic for pentacene, both acenes exhibit near unity SF quantum efficiencies, raising questions about how tetracene can overcome the energy barrier. Here, we use recently developed instrumentation to measure inelastic neutron scattering (INS) while optically exciting the model molecules using two different excitation energies. The spectroscopic results reveal intermolecular structural relaxation due to the presence of a triplet excited state. The structural dynamics of the combined excited state molecule and surrounding tetracene molecules are further studied using time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), which shows that the singlet and triplet levels shift due to the excited state geometry, reducing the uphill energy barrier for SF to within kT.

Optical Absorption Properties in Pentacene/Tetracene Solid Solutions

Modifying the optical and electronic properties of crystalline organic thin films is of great interest for improving the performance of modern organic semiconductor devices. Therein, the statistical mixing of molecules to form a solid solution provides an opportunity to fine-tune optical and electronic properties. Unfortunately, the diversity of intermolecular interactions renders mixed organic crystals highly complex, and a holistic picture is still lacking. Here, we report a study of the optical absorption properties in solid solutions of pentacene and tetracene, two prototypical organic semiconductors. In the mixtures, the optical properties can be continuously modified by statistical mixing at the molecular level. Comparison with time-dependent density functional theory calculations on occupationally disordered clusters unravels the electronic origin of the low energy optical transitions. The disorder partially relaxes the selection rules, leading to additional optical transitions that manifest as optical broadening. Furthermore, the contribution of diabatic charge-transfer states is modified in the mixtures, reducing the observed splitting in the 0-0 vibronic transition. Additional comparisons with other blended systems generalize our results and indicate that changes in the polarizability of the molecular environment in organic thin-film blends induce shifts in the absorption spectrum.

Promoting multiexciton interactions in singlet fission and triplet fusion upconversion dendrimers

Singlet fission and triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion are two multiexciton processes intimately related to the dynamic interaction between one high-lying energy singlet and two low-lying energy triplet excitons. Here, we introduce a series of dendritic macromolecules that serve as platform to study the effect of interchromophore interactions on the dynamics of multiexciton generation and decay as a function of dendrimer generation. The dendrimers (generations 1-4) consist of trimethylolpropane core and 2,2-bis(methylol)propionic acid (bis-MPA) dendrons that provide exponential growth of the branches, leading to a corona decorated with pentacenes for SF or anthracenes for TTA-UC. The findings reveal a trend where a few highly ordered sites emerge as the dendrimer generation grows, dominating the multiexciton dynamics, as deduced from optical spectra, and transient absorption spectroscopy. While the dendritic structures enhance TTA-UC at low annihilator concentrations in the largest dendrimers, the paired chromophore interactions induce a broadened and red-shifted excimer emission. In SF dendrimers of higher generations, the triplet dynamics become increasingly dominated by pairwise sites exhibiting strong coupling (Type II), which can be readily distinguished from sites with weaker coupling (Type I) by their spectral dynamics and decay kinetics.

Quest for singlet fission of organic sulfur-containing systems in the higher lying singlet excited state: application prospects of anti-Kasha's rule

In this study, we explore the possibilities of the deactivating pathways of organic thione containing systems through first-principles calculations. We particularly pay attention to the second lying singlet excited state, S₂, due to its large energy difference from the lowest lying S₁ state in the sulfur-containing systems. Several theoretical models including the previously synthesized thiones and the strategically designed molecules are investigated to search for the basic conjugation unit that exhibits the prospect of S₂ fission. Various molecular motifs and different substituents are combined to maneuver the relative alignment of the relevant low excited energy states. The results lead us to conclude that the thione derivatives, under rational and delicate molecular designs, may be engineered to possess a sufficiently high S₂-S₁ energy gap as high as 2 eV and that these systems may exhibit S₂ fission to triplet excitons in the red to near infrared region.

Rapid Computational Approach Towards Designing Singlet-Fission Chromophores by Tuning the Diradical Character of Heteroatom-Doped Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Using the Atom-Specific Fukui Function

Singlet fission (SF) is proposed as a promising method to circumvent the Shockley-Queisser threshold of single junction photovoltaics. Progress towards realizing efficient SF-based devices has been impeded by the fact that only a handful of molecules and their derivatives practically exhibit efficient SF. In the present work, we demonstrate a TDDFT-based rapid and cost-effective computational approach for designing SF chromophores by doping various atomic sites (substituting carbon atoms) of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with nitrogen, phosphorus, and silicon. We establish a hitherto unexplored, direct correlation between the atom-specific chemical reactivity parameter─Fukui function─of these molecules with their frontier molecular orbital energies, diradical characters, and vertical singlet and triplet excitation energies. These quantitative correlations show exactly opposite trends for nitrogen-doped molecules and phosphorus- or silicon-doped molecules. The doped derivatives that have the Fukui function falling in a range of 0.03-0.14 possess the required intermediate diradical character and suitable singlet-triplet energies to qualify for SF candidature. Our findings enable one, at reasonable computational times and cost, to easily assess the doping criteria and to develop design rules for SF molecules in particular and for diradicaloids in general.

Excited states engineering enables efficient near-infrared lasing in nanographenes

The spectral overlap between stimulated emission (SE) and absorption from dark states (i.e. charges and triplets) especially in the near-infrared (NIR), represents one of the most effective gain loss channels in organic semiconductors. Recently, bottom-up synthesis of atomically precise graphene nanostructures, or nanographenes (NGs), has opened a new route for the development of environmentally and chemically stable materials with optical gain properties. However, also in this case, the interplay between gain and absorption losses has hindered the attainment of efficient lasing action in the NIR. Here, we demonstrate that the introduction of two fluoranthene imide groups to the NG core leads to a more red-shifted emission than the precursor NG molecule (685 vs. 615 nm) and also with a larger Stokes shift (45 nm vs. 2 nm, 1026 cm^-1vs. 53 cm^-1, respectively). Photophysical results indicate that, besides the minimisation of ground state absorption losses, such substitution permits to suppress the detrimental excited state absorption in the NIR, which likely arises from a dark state with charge-transfer character and triplets. This has enabled NIR lasing (720 nm) from all-solution processed distributed feedback devices with one order of magnitude lower thresholds than those of previously reported NIR-emitting NGs. This study represents an advance in the field of NGs and, in general, organic semiconductor photonics, towards the development of cheap and stable NIR lasers.

Evaluating the Electronic Structure of Coexisting Excitonic and Multiexcitonic States in Periodic Systems: Significance for Singlet Fission

Singlet fission (SF) in organic molecular solids is an example of a process that is challenging to describe with the most common electronic structure approaches. It involves optically bright singlet excited states delocalized over many molecules, which could be efficiently treated by density functional theory, and multiexcitonic localized states that have to be studied with wavefunction methods, usually with small clusters considering their expensive computational costs. In this work, we propose a methodology to combine multiconfigurational wavefunction calculations with reduced Hamiltonian to investigate the electronic structure of large clusters or fully periodic systems. The method is applied to the prototypical SF materials tetracene and pentacene. The results allow one to study how states of different natures (excitonic, charge-transfer, and multiexcitonic) coexist and are contaminated by their couplings in large or periodic systems. Novel insights are therefore possible. For example, because the excitonic bands are relatively broad with respect to the multiexcitonic states, there are limited regions of the crystal momentum space where the transition between the two is more likely.

Uncovering the out-of-plane nanomorphology of organic photovoltaic bulk heterojunction by GTSAXS

The bulk morphology of the active layer of organic solar cells (OSCs) is known to be crucial to the device performance. The thin film device structure breaks the symmetry into the in-plane direction and out-of-plane direction with respect to the substrate, leading to an intrinsic anisotropy in the bulk morphology. However, the characterization of out-of-plane nanomorphology within the active layer remains a grand challenge. Here, we utilized an X-ray scattering technique, Grazing-incident Transmission Small-angle X-ray Scattering (GTSAXS), to uncover this new morphology dimension. This technique was implemented on the model systems based on fullerene derivative (P3HT:PC71BM) and non-fullerene systems (PBDBT:ITIC, PM6:Y6), which demonstrated the successful extraction of the quantitative out-of-plane acceptor domain size of OSC systems. The detected in-plane and out-of-plane domain sizes show strong correlations with the device performance, particularly in terms of exciton dissociation and charge transfer. With the help of GTSAXS, one could obtain a more fundamental perception about the three-dimensional nanomorphology and new angles for morphology control strategies towards highly efficient photovoltaic devices.

Vacancy control in acene blends links exothermic singlet fission to coherence

The fission of singlet excitons into triplet pairs in organic materials holds great technological promise, but the rational application of this phenomenon is hampered by a lack of understanding of its complex photophysics. Here, we use the controlled introduction of vacancies by means of spacer molecules in tetracene and pentacene thin films as a tuning parameter complementing experimental observables to identify the operating principles of different singlet fission pathways. Time-resolved spectroscopic measurements in combination with microscopic modelling enables us to demonstrate distinct scenarios, resulting from different singlet-to-triplet pair energy alignments. For pentacene, where fission is exothermic, coherent mixing between the photoexcited singlet and triplet-pair states is promoted by vibronic resonances, which drives the fission process with little sensitivity to the vacancy concentration. Such vibronic resonances do not occur for endothermic materials such as tetracene, for which we find fission to be fully incoherent; a process that is shown to slow down with increasing vacancy concentration.

Generating Triplets in Organic Semiconductor Tetracene upon Photoexcitation of Transition Metal Dichalcogenide ReS2

We studied the dynamics of transfer of photoexcited electronic states in a bilayer of the two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide ReS₂ and tetracene, with the aim to produce triplets in the latter. This material combination was used as the band gap of ReS₂ (1.5 eV) is slightly larger than the triplet energy of tetracene (1.25 eV). Using time-resolved optical absorption spectroscopy, transfer of photoexcited states from ReS₂ to triplet states in tetracene was found to occur within 5 ps with an efficiency near 38%. This result opens up new possibilities for heterostructure design of two-dimensional materials with suitable organics to produce long-lived triplets. Triplets are of interest as sensitizers in a wide variety of applications including optoelectronics, photovoltaics, photocatalysis, and photon upconversion.

Unconventional singlet fission materials

Singlet fission (SF) is a photophysical downconversion pathway, in which a singlet excitation transforms into two triplet excited states. As such, it constitutes an exciton multiplication generation process, which is currently at the focal point for future integration into solar energy conversion devices. Beyond this, various other exciting applications were proposed, including quantum cryptography or organic light emitting diodes. Also, the mechanistic understanding evolved rapidly during the last year. Unfortunately, the number of suitable SF-chromophores is still limited. This is per se problematic, considering the wide range of envisaged applicability. With that in mind, we emphasize uncommon SF-scaffolds and outline requirements as well as strategies to expand the chromophore pool of SF-materials.

Using temperature dependent fluorescence to evaluate singlet fission pathways in tetracene single crystals

The temperature-dependent fluorescence spectrum, decay rate, and spin quantum beats are examined in single tetracene crystals to gain insight into the mechanism of singlet fission. Over the temperature range of 250 K-500 K, the vibronic lineshape of the emission indicates that the singlet exciton becomes localized at 400 K. The fission process is insensitive to this localization and exhibits Arrhenius behavior with an activation energy of 550 ± 50 cm^-1. The damping rate of the triplet pair spin quantum beats in the delayed fluorescence also exhibits an Arrhenius temperature dependence with an activation energy of 165 ± 70 cm^-1. All the data for T > 250 K are consistent with direct production of a spatially separated ¹(T⋯T) state via a thermally activated process, analogous to spontaneous parametric downconversion of photons. For temperatures in the range of 20 K-250 K, the singlet exciton continues to undergo a rapid decay on the order of 200 ps, leaving a red-shifted emission that decays on the order of 100 ns. At very long times (≈1 µs), a delayed fluorescence component corresponding to the original S₁ state can still be resolved, unlike in polycrystalline films. A kinetic analysis shows that the redshifted emission seen at lower temperatures cannot be an intermediate in the triplet production. When considered in the context of other results, our data suggest that the production of triplets in tetracene for temperatures below 250 K is a complex process that is sensitive to the presence of structural defects.

Singlet Fission Dynamics in Tetracene Single Crystals Probed by Polarization-Dependent Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy

The exact mechanism of endothermic singlet fission in crystalline polyacene remains to be clarified. It has been elusive whether the excess energy of vibrational hot states and the upper branch of Davydov splitting is important for the energy compensation. Here, we probe the excited-state specified singlet fission dynamics in tetracene single crystals by polarization-dependent two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES). While a major spectral transfer with a characteristic lifetime of 86 ps is observed to be largely independent of the excitation energy due to formation of the spatially separated triplet pairs (¹(T···T)), the excitation-energy dependent subpicosecond dynamics show marked differences for different states probed, implying the possible involvement of a coherently formed triplet pair state (¹(TT)). Analysis of coherent vibrational modes suggests the coupling to high energy modes may offset the energy difference between singlet and triplet pair states. Moreover, the beating map of the low frequency mode indicates a vibrational hot state violating the aggregation behavior of Davydov exciton, which can be explained as a resonance of the ¹(TT) state. These results suggest that the coherent vibronic mixing between local excitation and triplet pair states is essential for the singlet fission dynamics in molecule aggregates.

Dual Amplified Spontaneous Emission and Lasing from Nanographene Films

Chemically synthesized zigzag-edged nanographenes (NG) have recently demonstrated great success as the active laser units in solution-processed organic distributed feedback (DFB) lasers. Here, we report the first observation of dual amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from a large-size NG derivative (with 12 benzenoid rings) dispersed in a polystyrene film. ASE is observed simultaneously at the 685 and 739 nm wavelengths, which correspond to different transitions of the photoluminescence spectrum. Ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy has been used to ascertain the underlying photophysical processes taking place in the films. DFB lasers, based on these materials and top-layer nanostructured polymeric resonators (i.e., one or two-dimensional surface relief gratings), have been fabricated and characterized. Lasers emitting close to either one of the two possible ASE wavelengths, or simultaneously at both of them, have been prepared by proper selection of the resonator parameters.

Delocalization effects in singlet fission: Comparing models with two and three interacting molecules

We present surface hopping simulations of singlet fission in 2,5-bis(fluorene-9-ylidene)-2,5-dihydrothiophene (ThBF). In particular, we performed simulations based on quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) schemes in which either two or three ThBF molecules are inserted in the QM region and embedded in their MM crystal environment. Our aim was to investigate the changes in the photodynamics that are brought about by extending the delocalization of the excited states beyond the minimal model of a dimer. In the simulations based on the trimer model, compared to the dimer-based ones, we observed a faster time evolution of the state populations, with the largest differences associated with both the rise and decay times for the intermediate charge transfer states. Moreover, for the trimer, we predicted a singlet fission quantum yield of ∼204%, which is larger than both the one extracted for the dimer (∼179%) and the theoretical upper limit of 200% for the dimer-based model of singlet fission. Although our study cannot account for the effects of extending the delocalization beyond three molecules, our findings clearly indicate how and why the singlet fission dynamics can be affected.

Representing the Molecular Signatures of Disordered Molecular Semiconductors in Size-Extendable Models of Exciton Dynamics

This manuscript presents an approach to developing size-extendable phenomenological site-based models for simulating exciton dynamics in disordered organic molecular semiconducting materials. This approach extends an existing methodology that assigns the parameters of the time-dependent Frenkel exciton model by applying fragmentation-based electronic structure calculations to the output of classical molecular dynamics simulations. This methodology is inherently limited by the system size of the all-atom simulation, which is well below the performance capability of site-based models. Here, we demonstrate that this system size limitation can be effectively overcome by defining a size-extendable surrogate model based on the correlated parameter statistics derived from existing fragmentation-based methods. We demonstrate our approach on a monolayer film of sexithiophene molecules, first validating the accuracy of the surrogate system in reproducing exciton dynamical properties of a 150 molecule system, then extending it to systems of 2500 molecules. With this extended system, we explore the sensitivity of exciton dynamics to variations in the temperature as well as the amplitude and spatial correlations of energetic disorder. We conclude that exciton dynamics can be significantly enhanced in morphologies with spatially correlated molecular configurations but only if the overall distribution of site energies is sufficiently broad.

Singlet exciton fission via an intermolecular charge transfer state in coevaporated pentacene-perfluoropentacene thin films

Singlet exciton fission is a spin-allowed process in organic semiconductors by which one absorbed photon generates two triplet excitons. Theory predicts that singlet fission is mediated by intermolecular charge-transfer states in solid-state materials with appropriate singlet-triplet energy spacing, but direct evidence for the involvement of such states in the process has not been provided yet. Here, we report on the observation of subpicosecond singlet fission in mixed films of pentacene and perfluoropentacene. By combining transient spectroscopy measurements to nonadiabatic quantum-dynamics simulations, we show that direct excitation in the charge-transfer absorption band of the mixed films leads to the formation of triplet excitons, unambiguously proving that they act as intermediate states in the fission process.

Separation in the Roles of Carrier Transport and Light Emission in Light-Emitting Organic Transistors with a Bilayer Configuration

To develop high-performance organic light-emitting organic field-effect transistors (LE-OFETs), a fundamental problem in organic semiconductors is to compromise light luminescent efficiency for high carrier mobility and vice versa. Therefore, LE-OFETs can avoid this problem by separating the light-emission and carrier-transport functions. Here, a bilayer LE-OFET composed of a tetracene crystal as a carrier transporter (bottom crystal) and a 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-( p-dimethylaminostyryl)-4 H-pyran (DCM1)-doped tetracene crystal as a light emitter (top crystal) was fabricated. Red light-emission color, which is distinct from the green emission color of tetracene, was detected in the top crystal. Light emission from the top layer was prohibited when an insulating thin film was inserted between the two crystals. These observations indicate that excitons are formed in the bottom crystal and transferred to the top crystal, emitting reddish light. Bilayer LE-OFETs have the advantage of providing both high current density and a bright emission for high-performance light-emitting FETs.

Resonance Raman Characterization of Tetracene Monomer and Nanocrystals: Excited State Lattice Distortions With Implications For Efficient Singlet Fission

The characterization of specific phonon modes and exciton states that lead to efficient singlet fission (SF) may be instrumental in the design of the next generation of high-efficiency photovoltaic devices. To this end, we analyze the absolute resonance Raman (RR) cross sections for tetracene (Tc) both as a monomer in solution and as a crystalline solid in an aqueous suspension of nanocrystals. For both systems, a time-dependent wavepacket model is developed that is consistent with the absolute RR cross sections, the magnitude of the absorption cross sections, and the vibronic line shapes of the fluorescence. In the monomer, the intramolecular reorganization energy is between 1500 and 1800 cm^-1 and the solvent reorganization energy is 70 cm^-1. In nanocrystals, the total reorganization is diminished to less than 600 cm^-1. The lowest energy exciton has an estimated intramolecular reorganization energy between 300 and 500 cm^-1 while intermolecular librational phonons have a reorganization energy of about 130 cm^-1. The diminished reorganization energy of the nanocrystal is interpreted in the context of the delocalization of the band-edge exciton onto about ∼7 molecules. When electron and electron-hole correlations are included within many-body perturbation theory, the polarized absorption spectra of crystalline Tc are calculated and found to be in agreement with experiment. The low-lying exciton states and optically active phonons that contribute to the polarized crystal absorption are identified. The likely role of coherent exciton phonon evolution in the SF process is discussed.

Triplet Pair States in Singlet Fission

This account aims at providing an understanding of singlet fission, i.e., the photophysical process of a singlet state ( S₁) splitting into two triplet states (2 × T₁) in molecular chromophores. Since its discovery 50 years ago, the field of singlet fission has enjoyed rapid expansion in the past 8 years. However, there have been lingering confusion and debates on the nature of the all-important triplet pair intermediate states and the definition of singlet fission rates. Here we clarify the confusion from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. We distinguish the triplet pair state that maintains electronic coherence between the two constituent triplets, ¹(TT), from one which does not, ¹(T···T). Only the rate of formation of ¹(T···T) is defined as that of singlet fission. We present distinct experimental evidence for ¹(TT), whose formation may occur via incoherent and/or vibronic coherent mechanisms. We discuss the challenges in treating singlet fission beyond the dimer approximation, in understanding the often neglected roles of delocalization on singlet fission rates, and in realizing the much lauded goal of increasing solar energy conversion efficiencies with singlet fission chromophores.

Coupled double triplet state in singlet fission

The highly unusual state, 1(TT), is a coupled, double triplet state that has recently garnered significant attention. This multiexcitonic state can be formed by a quantum transition from a single-photon bright state in a variety of organic semiconducting materials. 1(TT)'s transient nature and similarity to independent triplets, however, has led to significant difficulties in characterization and prediction of its properties. Recent progress describing 1(TT) from theory and experiment are breaking through these difficulties, and have greatly advanced our comprehension of this state. Starting from the early description of 1(TT) in polyenes, this perspective discusses formation mechanisms, spectroscopic signatures, and the scope of intertriplet interactions. When employing singlet fission to generate charge carriers in a solar cell, 1(TT) has a central role. Due to the variety of coupling strengths between triplet states in 1(TT) amongst different chromophores, two different strategies are discussed to enable efficient charge carrier extraction. Continued growth in our understanding of 1(TT) may lead to control over complex quantum states for intriguing applications beyond high-efficiency, organic solar cells.

Singlet fission in self-assembled PDI nanocrystals

Upon photoexcitation, self-assembled PDI nanocrystals (S1S0) in the form of rods of 70 nm width and 1 μm length are subject to a symmetry breaking charge separation (SBCS) as the first step in the singlet fission (SF) sequence. Hereby, the correlated pair of triplet excited states 1(T1T1) is formed with a quantum yield of 122%. Decoherence and triplet diffusion within the nanocrystals affords a long-lived, uncorrelated pair of triplet excited states (T1 + T1) with a quantum yield of 24%.

Role of Bimolecular Exciton Kinetics in Controlling the Efficiency of Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

Here, we have carried out a spectroscopic investigation on the operational organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) to determine the role of emission layer thickness on the optoelectronic performance of OLEDs based on a poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene- alt-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) copolymer system. Our study shows that delayed fluorescence (DF) via triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) contributes significantly to boost the OLED efficiency through its fractional contribution. Interestingly, we note that DF contribution varies as a function of the emissive layer thickness. From the time-resolved electroluminescence (TREL) and triplet absorption (under electrical excitation) studies, we have seen that the emissive layer thickness controls triplet exciton generation and decay processes. From TREL, we have also shown that singlet-triplet annihilation (STA) is the dominant fluorescence quenching mechanism in bulk of the emissive layer, whereas thinner devices have significant exciton quenching at the interface of the injection layer/F8BT. The strength of STA differs in thin versus thick samples, which has been correlated with the spectral & spatial overlap integral of singlet and triplet states. Hence, STA strength and triplet population density are critical parameters for an explanation of high efficiency in unusually thick F8BT OLEDs.

Low-Lying Excited States in Thiophene-Based Cyclic Molecule Suitable for Optoelectronics: A Density Matrix Renormalization Group Study

The low-lying excited states of thiophene-based cyclic oligomer tetrathia[22]annulene[2,1,2,1] (TTA) are studied using the density matrix renormalization group technique within long-range Pariser-Parr-Pople (PPP) model Hamiltonian. The calculated lowest singlet dipole-allowed excited state S1 (optical gap) is at 1.76 eV for TTA which is in very good agreement with experiment (1.6 eV), and therefore it is found to be promising in harvesting the visible to near-infrared region of the solar spectrum. The calculated diradical character of TTA and the lowest triplet to lowest singlet (T1/S1) ratio (0.12) in TTA obtained within the model PPP Hamiltonian suggest TTA to be a promising singlet fission material. Donor-acceptor (D-A) substitution in TTA also modulates the optical gap from 1.76 to 1.35 eV rendering (D-A)-substituted TTA applicable in organic light-emitting devices.

Linker-Dependent Singlet Fission in Tetracene Dimers

Separation of triplet excitons produced by singlet fission is crucial for efficient application of singlet fission materials. While earlier works explored the first step of singlet fission, the formation of the correlated triplet pair state, the focus of recent studies has been on understanding the second step of singlet fission, the formation of independent triplets from the correlated pair state. We present the synthesis and excited-state dynamics of meta- and para-bis(ethynyltetracenyl)benzene dimers that are analogues to the ortho-bis(ethynyltetracenyl)benzene dimer reported by our groups previously. A comparison of the excited-state properties of these dimers allows us to investigate the effects of electronic conjugation and coupling on singlet fission between the ethynyltetracene units within a dimer. In the para isomer, in which the two chromophores are conjugated, the singlet exciton yields the correlated triplet pair state, from which the triplet excitons can decouple via molecular rotations. In contrast, the meta isomer in which the two chromophores are cross-coupled predominantly relaxes via radiative decay. We also report the synthesis and excited-state dynamics of two para dimers with different bridging units joining the ethynyltetracenes. The rate of singlet fission is found to be faster in the dimer with the bridging unit that has orbitals closer in energy to that of the ethynyltetracene chromophores.

Surface States Mediate Triplet Energy Transfer in Nanocrystal-Acene Composite Systems

Hybrid organic:inorganic materials composed of semiconductor nanocrystals functionalized with acene ligands have recently emerged as a promising platform for photon upconversion. Infrared light absorbed by a nanocrystal excites charge carriers that can pass to surface-bound acenes, forming triplet excitons capable of fusing to produce visible radiation. To fully realize this scheme, energy transfer between nanocrystals and acenes must occur with high efficiency, yet the mechanism of this process remains poorly understood. To improve our knowledge of the fundamental steps involved in nanoparticle:acene energy transfer, we used ultrafast transient absorption to investigate excited electronic dynamics of PbS nanocrystals chemically functionalized with 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene (TIPS-pentacene) ligands. We find photoexcitation of PbS does not lead to direct triplet energy transfer to surface-bound TIPS-pentacene molecules but rather to the formation of an intermediate state within 40 ps. This intermediate persists for ∼100 ns before evolving to produce TIPS-pentacene triplet excitons. Analysis of transient absorption lineshapes suggests this intermediate corresponds to charge carriers localized at the PbS nanocrystal surface. This hypothesis is supported by constrained DFT calculations that find a large number of spin-triplet states at PbS NC surfaces. Though some of these states can facilitate triplet transfer, others serve as traps that hinder it. Our results highlight that nanocrystal surfaces play an active role in mediating energy transfer to bound acene ligands and must be considered when optimizing composite NC-based materials for photon upconversion, photocatalysis, and other optoelectronic applications.

Expanded Theory of H- and J-Molecular Aggregates: The Effects of Vibronic Coupling and Intermolecular Charge Transfer

The electronic excited states of molecular aggregates and their photophysical signatures have long fascinated spectroscopists and theoreticians alike since the advent of Frenkel exciton theory almost 90 years ago. The influence of molecular packing on basic optical probes like absorption and photoluminescence was originally worked out by Kasha for aggregates dominated by Coulombic intermolecular interactions, eventually leading to the classification of J- and H-aggregates. This review outlines advances made in understanding the relationship between aggregate structure and photophysics when vibronic coupling and intermolecular charge transfer are incorporated. An assortment of packing geometries is considered from the humble molecular dimer to more exotic structures including linear and bent aggregates, two-dimensional herringbone and "HJ" aggregates, and chiral aggregates. The interplay between long-range Coulomb coupling and short-range charge-transfer-mediated coupling strongly depends on the aggregate architecture leading to a wide array of photophysical behaviors.

Theoretical Studies of Singlet Fission: Searching for Materials and Exploring Mechanisms

In this Review article, a survey is given for theoretical studies in the subject of singlet fission. Singlet fission converts one singlet exciton to two triplet excitons. With the doubled number of excitons and the longer lifetime of the triplets, singlet fission provides an avenue to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency in organic photovoltaic devices. It has been a subject of intense research in the past decade. Theoretical studies play an essential role in understanding singlet fission. This article presents a Review of theoretical studies in singlet fission since 2006, the year when the research interest in this subject was reignited. Both electronic structure and dynamics studies are covered. Electronic structure studies provide guidelines for designing singlet fission chromophores and insights into the couplings between single- and multi-excitonic states. The latter provides fundamental knowledge for engineering interchromophore conformations to enhance the fission efficiency. Dynamics studies reveal the importance of vibronic couplings in singlet fission.

Singlet Fission Mediated Photophysics of BODIPY Dimers

The photodynamics of an orthogonal BODIPY dimer, particularly the formation of triplet states, has been explored by femtosecond and nanosecond transient absorption measurements. The short time scale data show the appearance of transient features of triplet character that, according to quantitative analysis of their intensities, account for more than 100% of the initially excited molecules, which reveals the occurrence of a singlet fission process in the isolated dimers. The formation rate of the triplet correlated state ¹(TT) is found to depend on the solvent polarity, pointing to the mediation of a charge transfer character state. The dissociation of the ¹(TT) state into pairs of individual triplets determines the triplet yield measured in the long time scales. The kinetic model derived from the results provides a comprehensive view of the photodynamics of BODIPY dimers and permits rationalization of the photophysical parameters of these systems.

Vibronic relaxation energies of acene-related molecules upon excitation or ionization

Effective-mode Franck–Condon parameters evaluation for excited state ionization from the corresponding excitation and ground-state ionization values leads to substantial errors.

Origins of Singlet Fission in Solid Pentacene from an ab initio Green's Function Approach

We develop a new first-principles approach to predict and understand rates of singlet fission with an ab initio Green's-function formalism based on many-body perturbation theory. Starting with singlet and triplet excitons computed from a GW plus Bethe-Salpeter equation approach, we calculate the exciton-biexciton coupling to lowest order in the Coulomb interaction, assuming a final state consisting of two noninteracting spin-correlated triplets with finite center-of-mass momentum. For crystalline pentacene, symmetries dictate that the only purely Coulombic fission decay process from a bright singlet state requires a final state consisting of two inequivalent nearly degenerate triplets of nonzero, equal and opposite, center-of-mass momenta. For such a process, we predict a singlet lifetime of 30-70 fs, in very good agreement with experimental data, indicating that this process can dominate singlet fission in crystalline pentacene. Our approach is general and provides a framework for predicting and understanding multiexciton interactions in solids.

Theory of Transient Excited State Absorptions in Pentacene and Derivatives: Triplet-Triplet Biexciton versus Free Triplets

Recent experiments in several singlet-fission materials have found that the triplet-triplet biexciton either is the primary product of photoexcitation or has a much longer lifetime than believed until now. It thus becomes essential to determine the difference in the spectroscopic signatures of the bound triplet-triplet and free triplets to distinguish between them optically. We report calculations of excited state absorptions (ESAs) from the singlet and triplet excitons and from the triplet-triplet biexciton for a pentacene crystal with the herringbone structure and for nanocrystals of bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) (TIPS)-pentacene. The triplet-triplet biexciton absorbs in both the visible and the near-infrared (NIR), while the monomer free triplet absorbs only in the visible. The intensity of the NIR absorption depends on the extent of intermolecular coupling, in agreement with observations in TIPS-pentacene nanocrystals. We predict additional weak ESA from the triplet-triplet but not from the triplet, at still lower energy.

Davydov Splitting and Self-Organization in a Porphyrin Layer Noncovalently Attached to Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes

We study the ability of porphyrin molecules to cooperate upon adsorption on the sp² curved surface of carbon nanotube. We discuss the role of the phenyl substituents in the cooperativity of the functionalization reaction. Moreover, a specific spatial organization of the molecules around the nanotube is unveiled through polarization sensitive experiments. Furthermore, we observe an increase of the energy splitting of the porphyrin main transition upon the adsorption on the nanotube. This effect, interpreted as a Davydov splitting, is analyzed quantitatively using a dipole-dipole coupling model. This study demonstrates the ability of porphyrin molecules to create an organized self-assembled layer at the surface of the nanotubes where molecules are electronically coupled together.

Partial atomic multipoles for internally consistent microelectrostatic calculations

An extension of the extant microelectrostatic methodologies, based on the concept of distributed generalized polarizability matrix derived from the Coupled Perturbed Hartree-Fock (CPHF) equations, is proposed for self-consistent calculation of charge carrier and charge-transfer (CT) state electrostatic energies in molecular solids, including the doped, defected and disordered ones. The CPHF equations are solved only once and the generalized molecular polarizability they yield enables low cost iterations that mutually adjust the molecular electronic distributions and the local electric field in which the molecules are immersed. The approach offers a precise picture of molecular charge densities, accounting for atomic partial multipoles up to order 2, which allows one to reproduce the recently reported large charge-quadrupole contributions to CT state energies in low-symmetry local environments. It is particularly well suited for repetitive calculations for large clusters (up to 300,000 atoms), and may potentially be useful for describing electrostatic solvent effects. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Quantum Interference in Singlet Fission: J- and H-Aggregate Behavior

The quantum interference in singlet fission (SF) among the multiple pathways from singlet excited states to correlated triplet pair states is comprehensively investigated. The analytical analysis reveals that this interference is strongly affected by the exciton-exciton coupling and is closely related to the property of J- and H-type of aggregates. Different from the interference in the spectra of aggregates, which depends only on the sign of exciton-exciton coupling, the interference in SF is additionally related to the signs of couplings between singlet excited states and triplet pair states. The interference dynamics is further demonstrated numerically by a time-dependent wavepacket diffusion method with electron-phonon interactions incorporated. Finally, we take a pentacene dimer as a concrete example to show how to adjust the constructive and destructive interferences in SF dynamics in terms of J-/H-aggregate behaviors. The results presented here may provide guiding principles for designing efficient SF materials through directly tuning quantum interference via morphology engineering.