title: Charge Recombination Suppressed by Destructive Quantum Interference in Heterojunction Materials.
abstract: We show that charge recombination in ordered heterojunctions depends sensitively on the degree of coherent delocalization of charges at the donor-acceptor interface. Depending on the relative sign of the electron and hole transfer integrals, such delocalization can dramatically suppress recombination through destructive quantum interference. This could explain why measured recombination rates are significantly lower than predictions based on Langevin theory for a variety of organic bulk heterojunctions. Moreover, it opens up a design strategy for photovoltaic devices with enhanced efficiencies through coherently suppressed charge recombination.
authors.affiliation: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Roel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tempelaar
authors.affiliation: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: L Jan Anton
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Koster
authors.affiliation: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.|Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands.|Ghent Quantum Chemistry Group, Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Ghent University , Krijgslaan 281 (S3), B-9000 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Remco W A
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Havenith
authors.affiliation: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jasper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knoester
authors.affiliation: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Thomas L C
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Jansen
keywords: Langevin theory; bimolecular recombination; organic photovoltaics; quantum coherence