The Effect of an External Electric Field on the Diffusion-Influenced Irreversible Geminate Ion Recombination

Abstract

The geminate recombination of the electron and the radical cation is one of the most important phenomena in the primary process of radiation chemistry. This subject has been investigated intensively in an effort to make more efficient solar cells. In this work, we employ the recently proposed solution method for Fredholm integral equations of the second kind to treat the diffusion-influenced irreversible geminate ion recombination under an external electric field. The merit of our theory is the simplicity of the solution. In previous theories, the geminate recombination probability was expressed as an infinite series of two complicated functions, each of which was expressed as an infinite series. The formula also involved coupling constants which must be determined by solving a set of complicated linear equations. Our expression for the geminate recombination probability requires a single numerical quadrature.