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Dynamic structural views in solar energy materials by femtosecond electron diffraction

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Abstract

Solar materials convert light into other forms of energy through excited state processes occurring on ultrafast time and atomic length scales. Understanding and controlling such nonequilibrium processes is essential for applications ranging from photovoltaics to photocatalysis. These processes are commonly studied by transient optical techniques, which resolve charge carrier dynamics. However, optical spectroscopy does not directly probe the atomic-scale motions that play a central role in the ultimate functionality of these materials. Filling this missing gap, ultrafast electron and x-ray scattering techniques enable monitoring of structural dynamics in materials with femtosecond time resolution. Here, we focus on the use of ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) techniques to probe photoinduced energy conversion dynamics in solar energy materials. First, we discuss the use of UED as an ultrafast lattice thermometer allowing a direct probe of nonradiative relaxations such as hot carrier cooling and Auger recombination. Second, we present a time-resolved atomic pair distribution function analysis enabled by UED, which uncovers lattice deformations arising from excitation localization in materials. Finally, we provide an outlook looking toward new approaches for resolving in situ energy conversion dynamics and uncovering structure–property relationships in solar energy materials.

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Acknowledgments

Portions of this work were supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515 and by the DOE “Photonics at Thermodynamic Limits” Energy Frontier Research Center under Grant No. DE-SC0019140.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. X-Ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, USA

    Burak Guzelturk

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, USA

    Aaron Lindenberg

  3. Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, USA

    Aaron Lindenberg

  4. Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, USA

    Aaron Lindenberg

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  1. Burak Guzelturk
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Correspondence to Burak Guzelturk.

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Guzelturk, B., Lindenberg, A. Dynamic structural views in solar energy materials by femtosecond electron diffraction. MRS Bulletin 46, 704–710 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-021-00151-y

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