Seeing the invisible plasma with transient phonons in cuprous oxide

Laszlo Frazer; Richard D. Schaller; Kelvin B. Chang; Aleksandr Chernatynskiy; Kenneth R. Poeppelmeier

doi:10.1039/c6cp06532e

Seeing the invisible plasma with transient phonons in cuprous oxide

Laszlo Frazer, Richard D. Schaller, Kelvin B. Chang, Aleksandr Chernatynskiy, Kenneth R. Poeppelmeier

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The emission of phonons from electron-hole plasma is the primary limit on the efficiency of photovoltaic devices operating above the bandgap. In cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) there is no luminescence from electron-hole plasma. Therefore, we searched for optical phonons emitted by energetic charge carriers using phonon-to-exciton upconversion transitions. We found 14 meV phonons with a lifetime of 0.916 ± 0.008 ps and 79 meV phonons that are longer lived and overrepresented. It is surprising that the higher energy phonon has a longer lifetime.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1151-1157
Number of pages	7
Journal	Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Volume	19
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/c6cp06532e
Publication status	Published - 2017

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy(all)
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

Access to Document

10.1039/c6cp06532e

Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Seeing the invisible plasma with transient phonons in cuprous oxide'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this

@article{23cc1b22d89f4c20a89672077a35497a,

title = "Seeing the invisible plasma with transient phonons in cuprous oxide",

abstract = "The emission of phonons from electron-hole plasma is the primary limit on the efficiency of photovoltaic devices operating above the bandgap. In cuprous oxide (Cu2O) there is no luminescence from electron-hole plasma. Therefore, we searched for optical phonons emitted by energetic charge carriers using phonon-to-exciton upconversion transitions. We found 14 meV phonons with a lifetime of 0.916 ± 0.008 ps and 79 meV phonons that are longer lived and overrepresented. It is surprising that the higher energy phonon has a longer lifetime.",

author = "Laszlo Frazer and Schaller, {Richard D.} and Chang, {Kelvin B.} and Aleksandr Chernatynskiy and Poeppelmeier, {Kenneth R.}",

note = "Funding Information: L. F. acknowledges NSF DGE-0801685 and the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern. Use of the Center for Nanoscale Materials was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Crystal growth was supported by NSF DMR-1307698 and in part by Argonne National Laboratory under U.S. Department of Energy contract DE-AC36-08GO28308. We acknowledge the X-ray and OMM Facilities at the MRC of Northwestern, which are supported by NSF MRSEC program DMR-1121262.",

year = "2017",

doi = "10.1039/c6cp06532e",

language = "English",

volume = "19",

pages = "1151--1157",

journal = "Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics",

issn = "1463-9076",

publisher = "Royal Society of Chemistry",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Seeing the invisible plasma with transient phonons in cuprous oxide

AU - Frazer, Laszlo

AU - Schaller, Richard D.

AU - Chang, Kelvin B.

AU - Chernatynskiy, Aleksandr

AU - Poeppelmeier, Kenneth R.

N1 - Funding Information: L. F. acknowledges NSF DGE-0801685 and the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern. Use of the Center for Nanoscale Materials was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Crystal growth was supported by NSF DMR-1307698 and in part by Argonne National Laboratory under U.S. Department of Energy contract DE-AC36-08GO28308. We acknowledge the X-ray and OMM Facilities at the MRC of Northwestern, which are supported by NSF MRSEC program DMR-1121262.

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - The emission of phonons from electron-hole plasma is the primary limit on the efficiency of photovoltaic devices operating above the bandgap. In cuprous oxide (Cu2O) there is no luminescence from electron-hole plasma. Therefore, we searched for optical phonons emitted by energetic charge carriers using phonon-to-exciton upconversion transitions. We found 14 meV phonons with a lifetime of 0.916 ± 0.008 ps and 79 meV phonons that are longer lived and overrepresented. It is surprising that the higher energy phonon has a longer lifetime.

AB - The emission of phonons from electron-hole plasma is the primary limit on the efficiency of photovoltaic devices operating above the bandgap. In cuprous oxide (Cu2O) there is no luminescence from electron-hole plasma. Therefore, we searched for optical phonons emitted by energetic charge carriers using phonon-to-exciton upconversion transitions. We found 14 meV phonons with a lifetime of 0.916 ± 0.008 ps and 79 meV phonons that are longer lived and overrepresented. It is surprising that the higher energy phonon has a longer lifetime.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85008957422&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85008957422&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1039/c6cp06532e

DO - 10.1039/c6cp06532e

M3 - Article

C2 - 27942630

AN - SCOPUS:85008957422

VL - 19

SP - 1151

EP - 1157

JO - Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

JF - Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

SN - 1463-9076

IS - 2

ER -