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Title: Optical Helicity-Manipulated Photocurrents and Photovoltages in Organic Solar Cells

Abstract

The performance of an organic functional device can be effectively improved through external field manipulation. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate the optical polarization manipulation of the photocurrent or photovoltage in organic solar cells. Through switching the incident light from a linearly polarized light to a circularly polarized one, we find a pronounced change in the photocurrent, which is not observable in normal inorganic cells. There are two competing hypotheses for the primary process underlying the circular polarization-dependent phenomena in organic materials, one involving the inverse Faraday effect (IFE) and the other a direct photon spin–electron spin interaction. By way of ingenious device design and external magnetic field-induced stimuli, it is expected that the organic IFE can be a powerful experimental tool in revealing and elucidating excited-state processes occurring in organic spintronic and optoelectronic devices. Therefore, we believe that our results will potentially lead to the development of new multifunctional organic devices with integrated electronic, optical, and magnetic properties for energy conversion, optical communication, and sensing technologies.

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1]
  1. Shandong Univ., Jinan (China). State Key Lab. of Crystal Materials and School of Physics
  2. Shandong Univ., Jinan (China). State Key Lab. of Crystal Materials and School of Physics; Univ. of Melbourne (Australia). ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science and School of Chemistry
  3. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
OSTI Identifier:
1441335
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-18-20268
Journal ID: ISSN 1932-7447
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396; 11504257; 11774203; 11574180; 11574181
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Physical Chemistry. C
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 122; Journal Issue: 23; Journal ID: ISSN 1932-7447
Publisher:
American Chemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; Material Science

Citation Formats

Wei, Mengmeng, Hao, Xiaotao, Saxena, Avadh Behari, Qin, Wei, and Xie, Shijie. Optical Helicity-Manipulated Photocurrents and Photovoltages in Organic Solar Cells. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b03537.
Wei, Mengmeng, Hao, Xiaotao, Saxena, Avadh Behari, Qin, Wei, & Xie, Shijie. Optical Helicity-Manipulated Photocurrents and Photovoltages in Organic Solar Cells. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b03537
Wei, Mengmeng, Hao, Xiaotao, Saxena, Avadh Behari, Qin, Wei, and Xie, Shijie. Tue . "Optical Helicity-Manipulated Photocurrents and Photovoltages in Organic Solar Cells". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b03537. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1441335.
@article{osti_1441335,
title = {Optical Helicity-Manipulated Photocurrents and Photovoltages in Organic Solar Cells},
author = {Wei, Mengmeng and Hao, Xiaotao and Saxena, Avadh Behari and Qin, Wei and Xie, Shijie},
abstractNote = {The performance of an organic functional device can be effectively improved through external field manipulation. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate the optical polarization manipulation of the photocurrent or photovoltage in organic solar cells. Through switching the incident light from a linearly polarized light to a circularly polarized one, we find a pronounced change in the photocurrent, which is not observable in normal inorganic cells. There are two competing hypotheses for the primary process underlying the circular polarization-dependent phenomena in organic materials, one involving the inverse Faraday effect (IFE) and the other a direct photon spin–electron spin interaction. By way of ingenious device design and external magnetic field-induced stimuli, it is expected that the organic IFE can be a powerful experimental tool in revealing and elucidating excited-state processes occurring in organic spintronic and optoelectronic devices. Therefore, we believe that our results will potentially lead to the development of new multifunctional organic devices with integrated electronic, optical, and magnetic properties for energy conversion, optical communication, and sensing technologies.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b03537},
journal = {Journal of Physical Chemistry. C},
number = 23,
volume = 122,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {5}
}

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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: (a) J-V curve of the device ITO/ZnO/PTB7:PC71BM/MoO3/Ag under 100 mW/cm2 solar light illumination, the inset is the EQE curve. (b) Schematic of the circularly polarized light and the linearly polarized light excitation on PTB7 based organic solar cells, ITO/ZnO/PTB7:PCBM/MoO3/Ag. (c) The circularly and linearly polarized light dependent photocurrentmore » of the device ITO/ZnO/PTB7:PCBM/MoO3/Ag with 635 nm incident laser beam.« less

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