Predicting polarizabilities and lifetimes of excitons on conjugated polymer chains

The properties of excitons on three different conjugated polymers in soluti on are investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The theoretical description of the excitons is obtained by solving the electron-hole Bethe- Salpeter equation (BSE) for the polymers, starting from a calculation withi n density-functional theory. The calculated radiative lifetimes and polariz abilities of the excitons are compared with experimental results from time- resolved fluorescence decay and flash-photolysis microwave conductivity mea surements. The quantitative agreement demonstrates the predictive power of the theoretical approach. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.