A quantitative evaluation of metallic conduction in conjugated polymers

TL;DR

This paper presents a quantitative model explaining metallic conduction in conjugated polymers, emphasizing interchain charge transfer over intergrain transport, aligning with recent optical experiment results.

Contribution

It introduces a model of weakly coupled disordered chains that accurately describes metallic conduction in conjugated polymers near the metal-insulator transition.

Findings

Delocalization in conducting polymers is mainly hindered by interchain, not intergrain, charge transfer.

The proposed model quantitatively matches broad-band optical experiment outcomes.

Provides a unified explanation for metallic conduction in conjugated polymers.

Abstract

As the periodicity in crystalline materials creates the optimal condition for electronic delocalization, one might expect that in partially crystalline conjugated polymers delocalization is impeded by intergrain transport. However, for the best conducting polymers this presumption fails. Delocalization is obstructed by interchain rather than intergrain charge transfer and we propose a model of weakly coupled disordered chains to describe the physics near the metal-insulator transition. Our quantitative calculations match the outcome of recent broad-band optical experiments and provide a consistent explanation of metallic conduction in polymers.