Daniel Credgington | Searcharxiv

arXiv2020

Sequentially Deposited versus Conventional Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells: Interfacial Trap States, Vertical Stratification, and Exciton Dissociation

Bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) non-fullerene organic solar cells prepared from sequentially deposited donor and acceptor layers (sq-BHJ) have recently been promising to be highly efficient, environmentally friendly, and compatible with large area and roll-to-toll fabrication. However, the related photophysics at donor-acceptor interface and the vertical heterogeneity of donor-acceptor distribution, critical for exciton dissociation and device performance, are largely unexplored. Herein, steady-state and time-resolved optical and electrical techniques are employed to characterize the interfacial trap states. Correlation with the luminescent efficiency of interfacial states and its non-radiative recombination, interfacial trap states are characterized to be about 50% more populated in the sq-BHJ than as-cast BHJ (c-BHJ), which probably limits the device voltage output. Cross-sectional energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy depth profiling directly vizualize the donor-acceptor vertical stratification with a precision of 1-2 nm. From the proposed "needle" model, the high exciton dissociation efficiency is rationalized. Our study highlights the promise of sequential deposition to fabricate efficient solar cells, and points towards improving the voltage output and overall device performance via eliminating interfacial trap states.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2008

A kinetic equation for linear fractional stable motion with applications to space plasma physics

Levy flights and fractional Brownian motion (fBm) have become exemplars of the heavy tailed jumps and long-ranged memory seen in space physics and elsewhere. Natural time series frequently combine both effects, and Linear Fractional Stable Motion (LFSM) is a model process of this type, combining alpha-stable jumps with a memory kernel. In contrast complex physical spatiotemporal diffusion processes where both the above effects compete-dubbed "ambivalent" by Brockmann et al (2006}-have for many years been modelled using the fully fractional (FF) kinetic equation for the continuous time random walk (CTRW), with power laws in the pdfs of both jump size and waiting time. We derive the analogous kinetic equation for LFSM and show that it has a diffusion coefficient with a power law in time rather than having a fractional time derivative like the CTRW. We develop earlier comments by Lutz (2001) on how fBm differs from its fractional time process counterpart. We go on to argue more physically why LFSM and the FFCTRW might indeed be expected to differ, and discuss some preliminary results on the scaling of burst "sizes" and "durations" in LFSM time series, with applications to modelling existing observations in space physics.

math-ph↗