Impact of Photon Recycling, Grain Boundaries, and Nonlinear Recombination on Energy Transport in Semiconductors
Dane W. deQuilettes, Roberto Brenes, Madeleine Laitz, Brandon T. Motes, M. M. Glazov, Vladimir Bulović
Abstract
A comprehensive framework for modeling energy carrier transport upon optical excitation in both excitonic and free carrier semiconductors is developed and applied. Using metal halide perovskite thin films as a model system, we demonstrate that processes such as nonlinear recombination and photon recycling can have a significant impact on the measured energy carrier profiles, especially for excitonic materials with short radiative lifetimes. Additionally, we find that film microstructure can lead to unique transport profiles that strongly depend on the material boundary behavior and the differences between the domain feature size and the energy carrier diffusion length. Our analysis provides a rigorous model of energy transport in semiconducting materials and a detailed assessment of the fundamental parameters needed for the design and optimization of electronic and optoelectronic devices.