First-Principles Nonequilibrium Green's Function Approach to Energy Conversion in Nanoscale Optoelectronics

Understanding photon-electron conversion on the nanoscale is essential for future innovations in nano-optoelectronics. In this article, based on nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism, we develop a quantum-mechanical method for modeling energy conversion in nanoscale optoelectronic devices. The method allows us to study photoinduced charge transport and electroluminescence processes in realistic devices. First, we investigate the electroluminescence properties of a two-level model with two different treatments of inelastic scatterings. We show the regime where self-consistency between electron and photon is important for correct description of the inelastic scatterings. The method is then applied to model single-molecule junctions based on the density-functional tight-binding approach. The predicted emission spectra are found to be in very good agreement with experimental measurements. For nanostructured materials, the method is further applied to study the photoresponse of a two-dimensional graphene/graphite-C₃N₄ heterojunction photovoltaic device. The simulations demonstrate clearly the impact of atomistic details on the optoelectronic properties of nanodevices. This work provides a practical theoretical framework that can be applied to model and design realistic nanodevices.