Full-dimensional multilayer multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree study of electron transfer dynamics in the anthracene/C60 complex.

Electron transfer at the donor-acceptor heterojunctions plays a critical role in the photoinduced process during the solar energy conversion in organic photovoltaic materials. We theoretically investigate the electron transfer process in the anthracene/C60 donor-acceptor complex by using quantum dynamics calculations. The electron-transfer model Hamiltonian with full dimensionality was built by quantum-chemical calculations. The quantum dynamics calculations were performed using the multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) theory and multilayer (ML) MCTDH methods. The latter approach (ML-MCTDH) allows us to conduct the comprehensive study on the quantum evolution of the full-dimensional electron-transfer model including 4 electronic states and 246 vibrational degrees of freedom. Our quantum dynamics calculations exhibit the ultrafast anthracene → C60 charge transfer process because of the strong coupling between excitonic and charge transfer states. This work demonstrates that the ML-MCTDH is a very powerful method to treat the quantum evolution of complex systems.