Disorder-induced solitons in conjugated polymers

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that weak off-diagonal disorder in conjugated polymers induces a finite density of solitons and antisolitons, significantly affecting their optical and magnetic properties.

Contribution

It reveals how disorder creates solitons in conjugated polymers and predicts observable effects on their optical and magnetic behavior.

Findings

Presence of solitons due to disorder

Impact on optical properties

Impact on magnetic properties

Abstract

We show that weak off-diagonal disorder in degenerate ground state conjugated polymers results in a finite density of randomly positioned kinks (solitons and antisolitons) in the lattice dimerization. For realistic values of the disorder, these kinks should clearly show up in the optical and magnetic properties.