M. Wiemer

On the efficiency of exciton dissociation at the interface between a conjugated polymer and an electron acceptor

It is a matter of controversy why excitons can efficiently dissociate into free carriers at an intrinsic polymer/fullerene interface, despite the strong Coulomb interaction between the charges provided by the very low dielectric constant in organic materials. The effect has been ascribed to the presence of intrinsic dipoles on the polymer/fullerene interface, though assuming an unrealistically small carrier effective mass necessary for exciton dissociation. We improve the model showing that it allows realistic carrier effective masses. The dissociation probability is calculated as a function of electric field acting on the dissociating electron-hole pairs.

Thermal quenching of photoluminescence in Ga(AsBi)

We report on a comparative experimental and theoretical study of the thermal quenching of the photoluminescence (PL) intensity in Ga(AsBi)/GaAs heterostructures. An anomalous plateau in the PL thermal quenching is observed at intermediate temperatures under relatively low excitation intensities. Theoretical analysis based on a well-approved approach shows that this peculiar behavior points at a non-monotonous density of states (DOS) in the disorder-induced band tails with at least two-energy-scales. While in previous studies carried out at relatively high excitation intensities a single-energy-scale was sufficient to fit the thermal quenching of the PL in Ga(AsBi), our study at lower excitation intensities proves that two-energy-scales of disorder contribute to the thermal quenching of the PL. Possible energy shapes of the DOS, which can fit experimental data, are revealed.

Charge transport mechanism in lead oxide revealed by CELIV technique.

Although polycrystalline lead oxide (PbO) belongs to the most promising photoconductors for optoelectronic and large area detectors applications, the charge transport mechanism in this material still remains unclear. Combining the conventional time-of-flight and the photo-generated charge extraction by linear increasing voltage (photo-CELIV) techniques, we investigate the transport of holes which are shown to be the faster carriers in poly-PbO. Experimentally measured temperature and electric field dependences of the hole mobility suggest a highly dispersive transport. In order to analyze the transport features quantitatively, the theory of the photo-CELIV is extended to account for the dispersive nature of charge transport. While in other materials with dispersive transport the amount of dispersion usually depends on temperature, this is not the case in poly-PbO, which evidences that dispersive transport is caused by the spatial inhomogeneity of the material and not by the energy disorder.

Why the apparent order of bimolecular recombination in blend organic solar cells can be larger than two: A topological consideration

The apparent order δ of non-geminate recombination higher than δ = 2 has been evidenced in numerous experiments on organic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) structures intensively studied for photovoltaic applications. This feature is claimed puzzling, since the rate of the bimolecular recombination in organic BHJ systems is proportional to the product of the concentrations of recombining electrons and holes and therefore the reaction order δ = 2 is expected. In organic BHJ structures, electrons and holes are confined to two different material phases: electrons to the acceptor material (usually a fullerene derivative) while holes to the donor phase (usually a polymer). The non-geminate recombination of charge carriers can therefore happen only at the interfaces between the two phases. Considering a simple geometrical model of the BHJ system, we show that the apparent order of recombination can deviate from δ = 2 due solely to the topological structure of the system.

Large positive magnetoresistance effects in the dilute magnetic semiconductor (Zn,Mn)Se in the regime of electron hopping

Magnetoresistance in dilute magnetic semiconductors is studied in the hopping transport regime. Measurements performed on Cl-doped Zn1–xMnxSe with x < 8% are compared with simulation results obtained by a hopping transport model. The energy levels of the Cl donors are affected by the magnetization of Mn atoms in their vicinity via the s-d exchange interaction. Compositional disorder, in particular, the random distribution of magnetic atoms, leads to a magnetic-field induced broadening of the donor energy distribution. As the energy distribution broadens, the electron transport is hindered and a large positive contribution to the magnetoresistance arises. This broadening of the donor energy distribution is largely sufficient to account for the experimentally observed magnetoresistance effects in n-type (Zn,Mn)Se with donor concentrations below the metal–insulator transition.

Energy scale of compositional disorder in Ga(AsBi)

We report on a study of compositional disorder in Ga(AsBi) structures. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements on Ga(AsBi)/GaAs heterostructures with different Bi contents are performed. Experimental observations show an essentially non-monotonous dependence of the energy scale of disorder on the Bi content. Our theoretical analysis concludes that this peculiar behavior is a consequence of an essential bowing of the valence band edge as a function of Bi content and of a specific compositional dependence of the hole effective mass in Ga(AsBi) compounds.

Influence of growth temperature and disorder on spectral and temporal properties of Ga(NAsP) heterostructures

We have studied the optical properties of Ga(NAsP)-heterostructures, which were systematically grown at different temperatures by means of continuous-wave and time-resolved photoluminescence. We show that both the long ranged and the short ranged disorder scales increase for higher growth temperatures. Furthermore, samples with a higher disorder not only emit less photoluminescence (PL) intensity but also exhibit a longer effective PL decay time.

Disorder-induced absorption of far-infrared waves by acoustic modes in nematic liquid crystals

A mechanism of light absorption at THz frequencies in nematic liquid crystals based on intermolecular dynamics is proposed. In this mechanism, the energy conservation is supplied by acoustic phonons, whereas momentum conservation is provided by static spatial fluctuations of the director field. The mechanism predicts a continuous absorption spectrum in a broad frequency range.