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The optical response of conjugated polymers is calculated using a one-dimensional tight-binding model with Coulomb interactions, and adopting the multipolar form for the electromagnetic field Hamiltonian. By formulating the problem using the reduced single-electron density matrix and its evolution in Liouville space, we obtain a real-space description for the elementary electronic excitations. A unified expression for the linear response including radiative decay, which is valid for arbitrary chain size compared with the optical wavelength, is described. For small sizes it shows exciton confinement effects on the radiative decay and for larger sizes it fully incorporates polariton effects.
We introduce a concept which allows to study the nonlinear optical response of conjugated polymers taking into account many-body effects of the excitation process. The formation of charge transfer excitons and the creation of lattice distortions are studied in short polymer chains by solving the self consistent equations of motion for the reduced single electron density matrix and the lattice displacement. The coupling of electronic motions to lattice dynamics gives rise to the formation of excitonic polarons, which can be identified in the femtosecond pump-probe signal.
We have investigated the optical excitation of solitons and charge transfer excitons in polymer chains by solving the equations of motion for the reduced density matrix and the lattice displacement simultaneously in time. Electron-phonon coupling leads to polaron-exciton formation which can be identified in transient pump-probe signals.