The lowest-energy charge-transfer state and its role in charge separation in organic photovoltaics

Abstract

Energy independent, yet higher than 90% internal quantum efficiency (IQE), has been observed in many organic photovoltaics (OPVs). However, its physical origin remains largely unknown and controversial. The hypothesis that the lowest charge-transfer (CT) state may be weakly bound at the interface has been proposed to rationalize the experimental observations. In this paper, we study the nature of the lowest-energy CT (CT₁) state, and show conclusively that the CT₁ state is localized in typical OPVs. The electronic couplings in the donor and acceptor are found to determine the localization of the CT₁ state. We examine the geminate recombination of the CT₁ state and estimate its lifetime from first principles. We identify the vibrational modes that contribute to the geminate recombination. Using material parameters determined from first principles and experiments, we carry out kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to examine the charge separation of the localized CT₁ state. We find that the localized CT₁ state can indeed yield efficient charge separation with IQE higher than 90%. Dynamic disorder and configuration entropy can provide the energetic and entropy driving force for charge separation. Charge separation efficiency depends more sensitively on the dimension and crystallinity of the acceptor parallel to the interface than that normal to the interface. Reorganization energy is found to be the most important material parameter for charge separation, and lowering the reorganization energy of the donor should be pursued in the materials design.