Pathway for Better Photon Upconversion in Solar Applications

June 2, 2022

For a study published in ACS Energy Letters, researchers elucidated the pathway for photon upconversion in a perovskite/rubrene bilayer.

Schematic of sensitization mechanism at the perovskite/rubrene interface. PB1 and 2 are photobleaches. CB and VB are the conduction and valence bands, respectively. LUMO and HOMO are the lowest unoccupied and highest occupied molecular orbitals, respectively. MAFA = MA0.85FA0.15PbI3.

Scientific Achievement

The photophysical pathway has been revealed for triplet sensitization at the perovskite/rubrene interface. It involves rapid extraction on cooling of thermally excited charge carriers in the perovskite followed by triplet formation in the rubrene.

Significance and Impact

Current silicon-based solar cells cannot absorb wavelengths above 1100 nm, limiting their efficient use. The present results will help improve perovskite-based photon upconversion in these cells.

Research Details

•Ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy was used to elucidate the processes underlying triplet generation in a perovskite/rubrene bilayer.

•The results indicate ultrafast charge extraction and subsequent triplet generation on a sub-nanosecond time scale.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.1c02732

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Work was performed in part at the Center for Nanoscale Materials

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