Exciton transport in amorphous polymers and the role of morphology and thermalisation

Abstract Understanding the transport mechanism of electronic excitations in conjugated polymers is key to advancing organic optoelectronic applications, such as solar cells, light-emitting diodes and flexible electronics. While crystalline can be studied using solid-state techniques based on lattice periodicity, characterisation amorphous hindered by an intermediate regime disorder associated lack symmetries. To overcome these hurdles we have developed a reduced state quantum master equation approach Merrifield exciton formalism. This new allows us study dynamics excitons’ centre mass charge separation (CS), going beyond standard model charge-neutral Frenkel excitons. Using this its dependence morphology temperature. Exciton consists thermalisation process, whose features depend relative strength thermal energy, couplings disorder, resulting remarkably different regimes. By applying method representative systems poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) obtain insight into role temperature localisation, CS, non-equilibrium dynamics, experimental accessibility equilibrium states excitons polymers.