Exciton Dynamics in Conjugated Polymers

Abstract

This is a review of exciton dynamics in conjugated polymers. Exciton dynamics encompass multiple time and length scales. Ultrafast femtosecond processes are intrachain and involve a quantum mechanical correlation of the exciton and nuclear degrees of freedom. In contrast, post-picosecond processes involve the incoherent Forster transfer of excitons between polymer chains. Exciton dynamics is also strongly determined by the spatial and temporal disorder that is ubiquitous in conjugated polymers. Since excitons are delocalized over hundreds of atoms, a theoretical understanding of these processes is only realistically possible by employing suitably parametrized coarse-grained exciton-phonon models. Moreover, to correctly account for ultrafast processes, the exciton and phonon modes must be treated on the same quantum mechanical basis and the Ehrenfest approximation must be abandoned. This further implies that sophisticated numerical techniques must be employed to solve these models. We begin by describing the energetic and spatial distribution of excitons in disordered polymer systems. Next, we discuss ultrafast intrachain exciton decoherence caused by exciton-phonon entanglement, which leads to fluorescence depolarization on the timescale of 10-fs. Interactions of the polymer with its environment causes the stochastic relaxation and localization of high-energy delocalized excitons onto chromophores. The coupling of excitons with torsional modes also leads to various dynamical processes. On sub-ps timescales it causes exciton density localization and local polymer planarization, while on post-ps timescales stochastic torsional fluctuations cause exciton diffusion along the polymer chain. Finally, we describe a first-principles, Forster-type model of intrachain exciton transfer and diffusion, whose starting point is a realistic description of the donor and acceptor chromophores.