Ultrafast charge transfer coupled with lattice phonons in two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have emerged as a promising light-harvesting module for artificial photosynthesis and photovoltaics. For efficient generation of free charge carriers, the donor–acceptor (D-A) conjugation has been adopted for two-dimensional (2D) COFs recently. In the 2D D-A COFs, photoexcitation would generate a polaron pair, which is a precursor to free charge carriers and has lower binding energy than an exciton. Although the character of the primary excitation species is a key factor in determining optoelectronic properties of a material, excited-state dynamics leading to the creation of a polaron pair have not been investigated yet. Here, we investigate the dynamics of photogenerated charge carriers in 2D D-A COFs by combining femtosecond optical spectroscopy and non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulation. From this investigation, we elucidate that the polaron pair is formed through ultrafast intra-layer hole transfer coupled with coherent vibrations of the 2D lattice, suggesting a mechanism of phonon-assisted charge transfer.