Deep localized distortion of alternating bonds and reduced transport of charged carriers in conjugated polymers under photoexcitation.

In a real bulk heterojunction polymer solar cell, after exciton separation in the heterojunction, the resulting negatively-charged carrier, a polaron, moves along the polymer chain of the acceptor, which is believed to be of significance for the charged carrier transport properties in a polymer solar cell. During the negative polaron transport, due to the external light field, the polaron, which is re-excited and induces deep localization, also forms a new local distortion of the alternating bonds. It is revealed that the excited polaron moves more slowly than the ground-state polaron.