Photoinduced Carrier Dynamics at the Interface of Black Phosphorus and Bismuth Vanadate

Nonadiabatic Dynamics Simulations for Photoinduced Processes in Molecules and Semiconductors: Methodologies and Applications

Nonadiabatic dynamics (NAMD) simulations have become powerful tools for elucidating complicated photoinduced processes in various systems from molecules to semiconductor materials. In this review, we present an overview of our recent research on photophysics of molecular systems and periodic semiconductor materials with the aid of ab initio NAMD simulation methods implemented in the generalized trajectory surface-hopping (GTSH) package. Both theoretical backgrounds and applications of the developed NAMD methods are presented in detail. For molecular systems, the linear-response time-dependent density functional theory (LR-TDDFT) method is primarily used to model electronic structures in NAMD simulations owing to its balanced efficiency and accuracy. Moreover, the efficient algorithms for calculating nonadiabatic coupling terms (NACTs) and spin-orbit couplings (SOCs) have been coded into the package to increase the simulation efficiency. In combination with various analysis techniques, we can explore the mechanistic details of the photoinduced dynamics of a range of molecular systems, including charge separation and energy transfer processes in organic donor-acceptor structures, ultrafast intersystem crossing (ISC) processes in transition metal complexes (TMCs), and exciton dynamics in molecular aggregates. For semiconductor materials, we developed the NAMD methods for simulating the photoinduced carrier dynamics within the framework of the Kohn-Sham density functional theory (KS-DFT), in which SOC effects are explicitly accounted for using the two-component, noncollinear DFT method. Using this method, we have investigated the photoinduced carrier dynamics at the interface of a variety of van der Waals (vdW) heterojunctions, such as two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and perovskites-related systems. Recently, we extended the LR-TDDFT-based NAMD method for semiconductor materials, allowing us to study the excitonic effects in the photoinduced energy transfer process. These results demonstrate that the NAMD simulations are powerful tools for exploring the photodynamics of molecular systems and semiconductor materials. In future studies, the NAMD simulation methods can be employed to elucidate experimental phenomena and reveal microscopic details as well as rationally design novel photofunctional materials with desired properties.

Generalized Ab Initio Nonadiabatic Dynamics Simulation Methods from Molecular to Extended Systems

Nonadiabatic dynamics simulation has become a powerful tool to describe nonadiabatic effects involved in photophysical processes and photochemical reactions. In the past decade, our group has developed generalized trajectory-based ab initio surface-hopping (GTSH) dynamics simulation methods, which can be used to describe a series of nonadiabatic processes, such as internal conversion, intersystem crossing, excitation energy transfer and charge transfer of molecular systems, and photoinduced nonadiabatic carrier dynamics of extended systems with and without spin-orbit couplings. In this contribution, we will first give a brief introduction to our recently developed methods and related numerical implementations at different computational levels. Later, we will present some of our latest applications in realistic systems, which cover organic molecules, biological proteins, organometallic compounds, periodic organic and inorganic materials, etc. Final discussion is given to challenges and outlooks of ab initio nonadiabatic dynamics simulations.

Interfacial photoinduced carrier dynamics tuned by polymerization of coronene molecules encapsulated in carbon nanotubes: bridging type-I and type-II heterojunctions

Carbon nanomaterials play important roles in modern scientific research. Integrating different carbon-based building blocks into nano-hybrid architectures not only takes full advantage of each component, but also brings in novel interfacial properties. Herein, we have employed density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the effects of polymerization degree of coronene molecules encapsulated in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) (19,0) on their interfacial properties. The present results reveal that the interfacial properties of the formed heterojunctions are remarkably regulated by the polymerization degree. For example, monomer- and dimer-encapsulated SWNTs are type-I heterojunctions in which interfacial excitation energy transfer is preferred, whereas interfacial charge carrier transfer is favorable in trimer- and polymer-encapsulated SWNTs because they are type-II heterojunctions. On the other hand, we have employed the time-domain nonadiabatic dynamics simulation approach to explore the interfacial carrier dynamics in type-II polymer-encapsulated SWNT heterojunctions. It is found that the electron and hole transfer processes are asymmetric and occur in opposite directions and at different rates. The former takes place from polymers to SWNTs in an ultrafast way (ca. 370 fs), whereas the latter occurs slowly from SWNTs to polymers (ca. 24 ps). A closer analysis uncovers the fact that the different carrier transfer rates mainly originate from the different densities of the acceptor states, energy differences and inter-state couplings between the donor and acceptor states. Finally, the present work demonstrates that the polymerization degree could act as a new regulating strategy to tune the interfacial properties of molecule-encapsulated SWNT heterojunctions.

Photoinduced electron transfer from carbon nanotubes to fullerenes: C60versus C70

Hybrid carbon materials are found to exhibit novel optoelectronic properties at their interfaces, but the related interfacial carrier dynamics is rarely explored theoretically. In this contribution, we have employed density functional theory (DFT) and DFT-based nonadiabatic dynamics methods to explore photoinduced interfacial electron transfer processes at interfaces between a single-walled carbon nanotube with chiral index (6,5) and C60 or C70 (C60@CNT65 and C70@CNT65). We have found that with low E11 excitation, electron transfer takes place from CNT65 to C60 and C70 in both heterojunctions. This process is ultrafast and completed within about 200 fs, which is consistent with recent experiments. Differently, high E22 excitation does not induce electron injection to C60 in C60@CNT65; instead, "hot" electrons produced within CNT65 will be trapped in its higher conduction band for a while because of slow inter-band relaxation. By contrast, in C70@CNT65, high E22 excitation still can lead to ultrafast electron transfer to C70, but only a comparable amount of electrons are transferred (ca. 30%). Interestingly, electrons either remaining on CNT65 or transferred to C70 are trapped in the higher conduction band for a while, similarly, due to slow inter-band relaxation. The present results could be useful to guide the design of excellent interfaces of mixed-dimensional hybrid carbon materials for various optoelectronic applications.