Interchain Pair Hopping of Solitons and Polarons via Dopants in Polyacetylene

TL;DR

This paper investigates how solitons and polarons move between chains in polyacetylene, revealing that dopants facilitate pair hopping, which is more efficient than single-particle hopping, using numerical simulations based on an extended SSH model.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed numerical study of interchain hopping of solitons and polarons in polyacetylene, highlighting the role of dopants in pair formation and hopping mechanisms.

Findings

Charged solitons form bipolarons for interchain hopping.

Polarons prefer pair hopping over single hopping.

Polaron pair hopping is more efficient than soliton pair hopping.

Abstract

Interchain hopping of solitons and polarons in polyacetylene is studied by numerical simulation of their motion under an electric field. Use is made of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model supplemented with intrachain electron-electron interactions and dopant potentials. We find that charged solitons can hop to the opposite chain by forming bound pairs (bipolarons). For the case of polarons also, hopping in a pair is more favorable than single polaron hopping. Interchain hopping of a polaron pair is more efficient than that of a soliton pair.