Exciton transport in molecular organic semiconductors boosted by transient quantum delocalization

Designing molecular materials with very large exciton diffusion lengths would remove some of the intrinsic limitations of present-day organic optoelectronic devices. Yet, the nature of excitons in these materials is still not sufficiently well understood. Here we present Frenkel exciton surface hopping, an efficient method to propagate excitons through truly nano-scale materials by solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equation coupled to nuclear motion. We find a clear correlation between diffusion constant and quantum delocalization of the exciton. In materials featuring some of the highest diffusion lengths to date, e.g. the non-fullerene acceptor Y6, the exciton propagates via a transient delocalization mechanism, reminiscent to what was recently proposed for charge transport. Yet, the extent of delocalization is rather modest, even in Y6, and found to be limited by the relatively large exciton reorganization energy. On this basis we chart out a path for rationally improving exciton transport in organic optoelectronic materials. Improving exciton diffusion in molecular materials is an important goal in materials science. Here, Giannini et al. show that transient quantum delocalization of the excitonic wavefunction underpins high diffusivity leading to a set of design rules.

Automated summary

The exciton diffusion in molecular materials is crucial for the performance of organic optoelectronic devices. This study presents a method to propagate excitons through nano-scale materials and reveals a correlation between diffusion constant and quantum delocalization of the exciton. The findings provide insights for improving exciton transport in organic optoelectronic materials.