Charge separation in semicrystalline polymeric semiconductors by photoexcitation: is the mechanism intrinsic or extrinsic?

We probe charge photogeneration and subsequent recombination dynamics in neat regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) films over six decades in time by means of time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. Exciton dissociation at 10 K occurs extrinsically at interfaces between molecularly ordered and disordered domains. Polaron pairs thus produced recombine by tunneling with distributed rates governed by the distribution of electron-hole radii. Quantum-chemical calculations suggest that hot-exciton dissociation at such interfaces results from a high charge-transfer character.