An efficient biologically-inspired photocell enhanced by quantum coherence

2013/07/18 by C. Creatore, M. A. Parker, S. Emmott +1 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #quant-ph #physics.chem-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.111.253601

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 253601 (2013) · 12 pages, 9 figures

arxiv created 2013/07/18 · arxiv updated 2013/12/25

Abstract

Artificially reproducing the biological light reactions responsible for the remarkably efficient photon-to-charge conversion in photosynthetic complexes represents a new direction for the future development of photovoltaic devices. Here, we develop such a paradigm and present a model photocell based on the nanoscale architecture of photosynthetic reaction centres that explicitly harnesses the quantum mechanical effects recently discovered in photosynthetic complexes. Quantum interference of photon absorption/emission induced by the dipole-dipole interaction between molecular excited states guarantees an enhanced light-to-current conversion and power generation for a wide range of realistic parameters, opening a promising new route for designing artificial light-harvesting devices inspired by biological photosynthesis and quantum technologies.

Cited by

• Theoretical Limits of Photovoltaics Efficiency and Possible Improvements by Intuitive Approaches Learned from Photosynthesis and Quantum Coherence
• Method for simulating open-system dynamics using mid-circuit measurements on a quantum computer

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