Probing Ultrafast Charge Separation at Organic Donor/Acceptor Interfaces by a Femtosecond Electric Field Meter

Journal Article · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2011 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3632062· OSTI ID:1065609

Kaake, Loren G. ^[1]; Jailaubekov, Askat E. ^[1]; Williams, Kenrick J. ^[1]; Zhu, Xiaoyang ^[1]

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1. University of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)

Charge separation at organic donor/acceptor interfaces is a key step in the functioning of an organic photovoltaic cell, but experimental techniques that uniquely probe the interface on ultrafast time scales are absent. Here, we apply a technique sensitive to interfacial charge separation based on four-wave mixing to follow the transient electric field at the donor/acceptor interface. Examining the model system of copper phthalocyannine (CuPc) and fullerene (C₆₀) bilayers, we observe ultrafast electron transfer from photoexcited CuPc to C₆₀ on a 80 ± 20 fs time scale.

• Research Organization: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC); Understanding Charge Separation and Transfer at Interfaces in Energy Materials (CST)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE SC Office of Basic Energy Sciences (SC-22)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0001091
• OSTI ID: 1065609
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 99; ISSN 0003-6951
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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