Excitonic topology and quantum geometry in organic semiconductors

Wojciech J. Jankowski, Joshua J. P. Thompson, Bartomeu Monserrat, Robert-Jan Slager

Published 2024-06-17Version 1

Excitons drive the optoelectronic properties of organic semiconductors which underpin devices including solar cells and light-emitting diodes. We demonstrate that excitons can exhibit topologically non-trivial states and identify a family of organic semiconductors exhibiting the predicted excitonic topological phases. We also show that the topological phase can be controlled through chemical functionalisation and through the dielectric environment of the material. Appealing to quantum Riemannian geometry, we predict that topologically non-trivial excitons have a lower bound on their centre-of-mass spatial spread, which can significantly exceed the size of a unit cell. The discovery of excitonic topology and excitonic Riemannian geometry in organic materials brings together two mature fields and suggests many new possibilities for a range of future optoelectronic applications.