Photoelectrochemical processes

Photoelectrochemical processes are processes in photoelectrochemistry; they usually involve transforming light into other forms of energy. These processes apply to photochemistry, optically pumped lasers, sensitized solar cells, luminescence, and photochromism.

Electron excitation is the movement of an electron to a higher energy state. This can either be done by photoexcitation (PE), where the original electron absorbs the photon and gains all the photon's energy or by electrical excitation (EE), where the original electron absorbs the energy of another, energetic electron. Within a semiconductor crystal lattice, thermal excitation is a process where lattice vibrations provide enough energy to move electrons to a higher energy band. When an excited electron falls back to a lower energy state again, it is called electron relaxation. This can be done by radiation of a photon or giving the energy to a third spectator particle as well.

In physics there is a specific technical definition for energy level which is often associated with an atom being excited to an excited state. The excited state, in general, is in relation to the ground state, where the excited state is at a higher energy level than the ground state.

Photoexcitation is the mechanism of electron excitation by photon absorption, when the energy of the photon is too low to cause photoionization. The absorption of the photon takes place in accordance with Planck's quantum theory.

Photoexcitation plays role in photoisomerization. Photoexcitation is exploited in dye-sensitized solar cells, , luminescence, optically pumped lasers, and in some applications.

In chemistry, photoisomerization is molecular behavior in which structural change between isomers is caused by photoexcitation. Both reversible and irreversible photoisomerization reactions exist. However, the word "photoisomerization" usually indicates a reversible process. Photoisomerizable molecules are already put to practical use, for instance, in pigments for rewritable CDs, DVDs, and 3D optical data storage solutions. In addition, recent interest in photoisomerizable molecules has been aimed at molecular devices, such as molecular switches, molecular motors, and molecular electronics.

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