No Arabic abstract
Singlet fission is a process whereby two triplet excitons can be produced from one photon, potentially increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic devices. Endothermic singlet fission is desired for maximum energy conversion efficiency, and such systems have been shown to form an excimer-like state with multi-excitonic character prior to the appearance of triplets. However, the role of the excimer as an intermediate has, until now, been unclear. Here we show, using 5,12-bis((triisopropylsilyl)ethynyl)tetracene in solution as a prototypical example, that, rather than acting as an intermediate, the excimer serves to trap excited states, to the detriment of singlet fission yield. We clearly demonstrate that singlet fission and its conjugate process, triplet-triplet annihilation, occur at a longer intermolecular distance than an excimer intermediate would impute. These results establish that an endothermic singlet fission material must be designed that avoids excimer formation, thus allowing singlet fission to reach its full potential in enhancing photovoltaic energy conversion.
Singlet exciton fission (SF), the conversion of one spin-singlet exciton (S1) into two spin-triplet excitons (T1), could provide a means to overcome the Shockley-Queisser limit in photovoltaics. SF as measured by the decay of S1 has been shown to occur efficiently and independently of temperature even when the energy of S1 is as much as 200 meV less than 2T1. Here, we study films of TIPS-tetracene using transient optical spectroscopy and show that the initial rise of the triplet pair state (TT) occurs in 300 fs, matched by rapid loss of S1 stimulated emission, and that this process is mediated by the strong coupling of electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom. This is followed by a slower 10 ps morphology-dependent phase of S1 decay and TT growth. We observe the TT to be thermally dissociated on 10-100 ns timescales to form free triplets. This provides a model for temperature independent, efficient TT formation and thermally activated TT separation.
Short coherence times present a primary obstacle in quantum computing and sensing applications. In atomic systems, clock transitions (CTs), formed from avoided crossings in an applied Zeeman field, can substantially increase coherence times. We show how CTs can dampen intrinsic and extrinsic sources of quantum noise in molecules. Conical intersections between two periodic potentials form CTs in electron paramagnetic resonance experiments of the spin-polarized singlet fission photoproduct. We report on a pair of CTs for a two-chromophore molecule in terms of the Zeeman field strength, molecular orientation relative to the field, and molecular geometry.
The segmental specific heat ratio of the couple hydrogen bond defines not only the phase of Vapor, Liquid, Ice I and XI phase with a quasisolid phase that shows the negative thermal extensibility but uniquely the slope of density of water ice in different phases. Ice floats because H-O contracts less than O:H expands in the QS phase at cooling.
Singlet exciton fission (SEF) is a key process in the development of efficient opto-electronic devices. An aspect that is rarely probed directly, and yet has a tremendous impact on SEF properties, is the nuclear structure and dynamics involved in this process. Here we directly observe the nuclear dynamics accompanying the SEF process in single crystal pentacene using femtosecond electron diffraction. The data reveal coherent atomic motions at 1 THz, incoherent motions, and an anisotropic lattice distortion representing the polaronic character of the triplet excitons. Combining molecular dynamics simulations, time-dependent density functional theory and experimental structure factor analysis, the coherent motions are identified as collective sliding motions of the pentacene molecules along their long axis. Such motions modify the excitonic coupling between adjacent molecules. Our findings reveal that long-range motions play a decisive part in the disintegration of the electronically correlated triplet pairs, and shed light on why SEF occurs on ultrafast timescales.
Spin-entaglement has been proposed and extensively used in the case of correlated triplet pairs which are intermediate states in singlet fission process in select organic semiconductors. Here, we employ quantum process tomography of polarization entangled photon-pairs resonant with the excited state absorption of these states to investigate the nature of the inherent quantum correlations and to explore for an unambiguous proof for the existence of exciton entanglement.