ABSTRACT:The specific optical absorption of an organic semiconductor is critical to the performance of organic optoelectronic devices. For example, in solar cells, higher light-harvesting efficiency leads to higher photocurrent without the need for excellent electrical transport across thick films. We compare extinction coefficients for over 40 conjugated polymers, and find that many different chemical structures share an apparent maximum. In the case of a diketopyrrolopyrrole-thienothiophene copolymer, however, we observe remarkably high optical absorption at relatively low photon energies. We investigate the origin of the optical absorption in terms of backbone structure and conformation using measurements and quantum chemical calculations and find that the high optical absorption can be explained by the high persistence length of the polymer. Accordingly, we demonstrate high absorption in other polymers with high theoretical persistence length. We propose that visible light harvesting may be enhanced in other conjugated polymers through judicious design of the structure.2

In polymeric semiconductors, charge carriers are polarons, which means that the excess charge deforms the molecular structure of the polymer chain that hosts it. This results in distinctive signatures in the vibrational modes of the polymer. Here, we probe polaron photogeneration dynamics at polymer:fullerene heterojunctions by monitoring its timeresolved resonance-Raman spectrum following ultrafast photoexcitation. We conclude that polarons emerge within 300 fs. Surprisingly, further structural evolution on t50-ps timescales is modest, indicating that the polymer conformation hosting nascent polarons is not significantly different from that near equilibrium. We interpret this as suggestive that charges are free from their mutual Coulomb potential because we would expect rich vibrational dynamics associated with charge-pair relaxation. We address current debates on the photocarrier generation mechanism at molecular heterojunctions, and our work is, to our knowledge, the first direct probe of molecular conformation dynamics during this fundamentally important process in these materials.

No abstract

The photochemistry of chlorine dioxide (OClO) in water and acetonitrile is investigated using time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy. Stokes and anti-Stokes spectra are measured as a function of time following photoexcitation using degenerate pump and probe wavelengths of 390 nm. For aqueous OClO, the time-dependent Stokes intensities are found to be consistent with the re-formation of ground-state OClO by subpicosecond geminate recombination of the primary ClO and O photofragments. This represents the first unequivocal demonstration of primary-photoproduct geminate recombination in the condensed-phase photochemistry of OClO. Anti-Stokes intensity corresponding to the OClO symmetric stretch is observed demonstrating that, following geminate recombination, excess vibrational energy is deposited along this coordinate. Analysis of the anti-Stokes decay kinetics demonstrates that, in water, intermolecular vibrational relaxation occurs with a time constant of ∼9 ps. For OClO dissolved in acetonitrile, the Stokes scattering intensities are consistent with a significant reduction in the geminate-recombination quantum yield relative to water. Comparison of the OClO anti-Stokes decay kinetics in acetonitrile and water demonstrates that the rate of intermolecular vibrational relaxation is ∼4 times smaller in acetonitrile. Finally, in both solvents the appearance of symmetric-stretch anti-Stokes intensity is significantly delayed relative to geminate recombination. This delay is consistent with the initial deposition of excess vibrational energy along the asymmetric-stretch coordinate followed by intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution. The time scale for this redistribution is ∼5 ps in water and ∼20 ps in acetonitrile suggesting that intramolecular vibrational energy reorganization is solvent dependent.

The photochemical dynamics of aqueous chlorine dioxide (OClO) are investigated using time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy. Stokes and anti-Stokes spectra are measured as a function of time following photoexcitation of OClO using degenerate pump and probe wavelengths at 390 nm. The temporal evolution of OClO Stokes intensity is found to be consistent with the reformation of ground-state OClO by subpicosecond geminate recombination of the primary ClO and O photofragments. Anti-Stokes intensity is observed for transitions corresponding to the symmetric stretch of OClO demonstrating that upon geminate recombination, excess vibrational energy is deposited along this coordinate. Dissipation of this energy to the surrounding solvent occurs with a time constant of ∼9 ps. Finally, a delay in the appearance of OClO anti-Stokes intensity relative to geminate recombination is observed demonstrating that the excess vibrational energy available to OClO is initially deposited along the resonance Raman inactive asymmetric stretch coordinate with the exchange of energy between this coordinate and the symmetric stretch occurring with a time-constant of ∼5 ps.