Fate of solitons, polarons and bipolarons in conjugated polymers: The role of interchain coupling

The effect of interchain coupling on the relative order of dimerization on neighboring chains and on the local states in conjugated polymers is studied within the framework of the SSH model including interchain electron transfer. Parallel ordering is preferred for alternating interchain hopping integrals. In this case neutral solitons on neighboring chains are strongly bound, whereas polarons are destabilized even for weak interchain coupling. © 1989.