Final Report Summary - MOLMESON (Molecular Mesoscopics for Organic Nano-Optoelectronics)
The approach of the work programme was threefold. First, we developed a range of photon correlation techniques in the context of molecular complexes from organic electronics to study excited state dynamics. Second, we designed a range of new molecular model structures to mimic particular excited-state localization phenomena taking place in real materials. Third, we also opened the project to molecular materials in the broadest sense, probing new kinds of molecular structures. In particular, we investigated the origin of light generation in tiny metal nanoparticles and showed that, under certain conditions, light arises from the heating of the electrons within the solid. With a trick, we were able to demonstrate that this incoherent excitation energy of hot electrons can be harvested to a molecular-like structure, a two-dimensional semiconductor crystal. Such light harvesting originates from extremely efficient excited-state coupling between two very different materials and was shown to have application potential in nanoscale colour-tunable LED-like structures.