Abstract
Efficient energy transport is desirable in organic semiconductor (OSC) devices. However, photogenerated excitons in OSC films mostly occupy highly localized states, limiting exciton diffusion coefficients to below ~10−2 cm2/s and diffusion lengths below ~50 nm. We use ultrafast optical microscopy and nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations to study well-ordered poly(3-hexylthiophene) nanofiber films prepared using living crystallization-driven self-assembly, and reveal a highly efficient energy transport regime: transient exciton delocalization, where energy exchange with vibrational modes allows excitons to temporarily re-access spatially extended states under equilibrium conditions. We show that this enables exciton diffusion constants up to 1.1 ± 0.1 cm2/s and diffusion lengths of 300 ± 50 nm. Our results reveal the dynamic interplay between localized and delocalized exciton configurations at equilibrium conditions, calling for a re-evaluation of exciton dynamics and suggesting design rules to engineer efficient energy transport in OSC device architectures not based on restrictive bulk heterojunctions.
Original language | English |
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Article number | eabh4232 |
Journal | Science Advances |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 32 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY)..