Nonequilibrium electronic transport through a polymer chain: Role of solitons

TL;DR

This paper investigates how solitons influence electronic transport in a polymer chain under nonequilibrium conditions, revealing that lattice relaxation suppresses the NEPT and that solitons facilitate conduction via a soliton-lattice energy band.

Contribution

It introduces a scattering state operator method to analyze nonequilibrium transport and demonstrates the role of solitons in conduction mechanisms.

Findings

NEPT does not survive lattice relaxation.

Electronic transport occurs through soliton-lattice energy band.

Soliton-antisoliton pairs are not sustained in nonequilibrium.

Abstract

Nonequilibrium electronic transport through a polymer chain is investigated by the scattering state operator method. The polymer chain is described by an electron-lattice coupling model and its two ends are connected with metal electrodes of different chemical potentials. The scattering states are shown to be a set of complete eigenstates of electrons in the system at nonequilibrium steady state. With the method, we show that the nonequilibrium Peierls transition (NEPT) does not survive the lattice relaxation and the soliton-antisoliton pair excitations. Furthermore the electronic transport though the chain is shown to be accomplished through the soliton-lattice energy band.