Role of solitons in non-equilibrium electronic transport through a polymer chain

Abstract

Non-equilibrium 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 non-equilibrium steady state. With this method, we show that the non-equilibrium Peierls transition (NEPT) does not survive the lattice relaxation and the soliton-antisoliton pair excitations. Furthermore the electronic transport is shown to be accomplished through the soliton-lattice energy band.